Paylocity Holding Co. (NASDAQ:PCTY) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Shares of Paylocity Holding Co. (NASDAQ:PCTY - Get Free Report) have received an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the seventeen ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and fourteen have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $226.47.

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of Paylocity in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. They set a "sector perform" rating and a $190.00 target price for the company. Needham & Company LLC increased their price target on shares of Paylocity from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Paylocity from $211.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Paylocity from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price target for the company from $214.00 to $231.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on shares of Paylocity from $231.00 to $204.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paylocity

In other Paylocity news, Director Steven I. Sarowitz sold 26,252 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.91, for a total value of $5,116,777.32. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 420,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $81,862,200. This trade represents a 5.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 21.91% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Paylocity

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Paylocity in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. USA Financial Formulas bought a new position in shares of Paylocity in the 1st quarter valued at $29,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in shares of Paylocity by 41.1% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 247 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Paylocity by 489.1% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 271 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 225 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its stake in shares of Paylocity by 29.9% in the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 274 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.76% of the company's stock.

Paylocity Trading Up 3.2 %

PCTY traded up $5.83 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $188.82. 33,148 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 478,283. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.14. Paylocity has a one year low of $129.94 and a one year high of $223.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.42, a PEG ratio of 4.49 and a beta of 0.76. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $192.32 and its 200 day simple moving average is $195.00.

Paylocity (NASDAQ:PCTY - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The software maker reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.42 by ($0.60). Paylocity had a return on equity of 22.45% and a net margin of 14.76%. As a group, analysts forecast that Paylocity will post 4.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Paylocity

Paylocity Holding Corporation engages in the provision of cloud-based human capital management and payroll software solutions for workforce in the United States. The company offers payroll software solution for global payroll, expense management, tax services, on demand payment, and garnishment managed services; and time and labor management software for time and attendance, scheduling, and time collection.