Barclays Raises Paylocity (NASDAQ:PCTY) Price Target to $178.00

Paylocity (NASDAQ:PCTY) had its target price increased by stock analysts at Barclays from $166.00 to $178.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “equal weight” rating on the software maker’s stock. Barclays‘s price target indicates a potential upside of 5.20% from the company’s current price.

PCTY has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Mizuho reduced their price target on Paylocity from $170.00 to $155.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 9th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Paylocity in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Truist Financial decreased their price target on Paylocity from $250.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on Paylocity from $210.00 to $194.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Finally, BTIG Research assumed coverage on Paylocity in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. They set a “buy” rating and a $200.00 price objective for the company. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Paylocity currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $201.31.

Paylocity Stock Up 13.1 %

NASDAQ:PCTY traded up $19.60 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $169.20. 1,174,911 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 482,324. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $165.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $163.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.14, a P/E/G ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.88. Paylocity has a 1 year low of $139.40 and a 1 year high of $230.52.

Paylocity (NASDAQ:PCTY) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The software maker reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.08. Paylocity had a return on equity of 21.37% and a net margin of 12.96%. The company had revenue of $326.36 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $324.34 million. As a group, research analysts predict that Paylocity will post 3.48 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paylocity

In related news, CEO Steven R. Beauchamp sold 7,760 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.95, for a total value of $1,295,532.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,746,468 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $291,572,832.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Paylocity news, CEO Steven R. Beauchamp sold 7,760 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.95, for a total value of $1,295,532.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,746,468 shares in the company, valued at approximately $291,572,832.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Steven I. Sarowitz sold 24,504 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.47, for a total value of $4,299,716.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 9,587,872 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,682,383,899.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 54,547 shares of company stock valued at $9,356,359. 22.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Paylocity

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital International Investors grew its position in shares of Paylocity by 119.0% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 1,211,021 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $199,637,000 after buying an additional 658,057 shares in the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP lifted its stake in Paylocity by 35.0% during the first quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 2,396,692 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $411,895,000 after purchasing an additional 621,946 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in Paylocity during the fourth quarter worth approximately $82,172,000. Liontrust Investment Partners LLP purchased a new stake in Paylocity during the third quarter worth approximately $90,181,000. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its stake in Paylocity by 2,212.5% during the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 381,952 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $62,965,000 after purchasing an additional 365,435 shares during the last quarter. 94.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Paylocity Company Profile

Paylocity Holding Corporation provides cloud-based human capital management and payroll software solutions for workforce in the United States. The company offers Payroll and Tax Services solution to simplifies payroll, automates processes, and manages compliance requirements within one system; and expense management, on demand payment, and garnishment solutions.