Paylocity (NASDAQ:PCTY) Rating Lowered to “Hold” at Wall Street Zen

Paylocity (NASDAQ:PCTY) was downgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Sunday.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on PCTY. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Paylocity from $185.00 to $150.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Truist Financial reduced their target price on Paylocity from $240.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 6th. Robert W. Baird set a $220.00 price target on Paylocity in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Citigroup restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Paylocity in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Guggenheim raised Paylocity from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 10th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $180.05.

Paylocity Stock Down 3.5%

PCTY opened at $101.95 on Friday. Paylocity has a 12 month low of $100.90 and a 12 month high of $210.35. The business has a 50-day moving average of $136.59 and a two-hundred day moving average of $150.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.54.

Paylocity (NASDAQ:PCTY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The software maker reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.28. Paylocity had a net margin of 14.19% and a return on equity of 23.44%. The business had revenue of $416.13 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $408.37 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.52 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Paylocity will post 4.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Paylocity

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Kera Capital Partners Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Paylocity by 170.8% during the 4th quarter. Kera Capital Partners Inc. now owns 5,056 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $771,000 after buying an additional 3,189 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Paylocity by 5,284.2% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 120,013 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $18,302,000 after purchasing an additional 117,784 shares during the period. Alberta Investment Management Corp acquired a new position in shares of Paylocity during the fourth quarter worth $1,464,000. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its position in shares of Paylocity by 53.8% during the fourth quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 15,336 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $2,339,000 after purchasing an additional 5,366 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caitlin John LLC purchased a new position in shares of Paylocity in the fourth quarter valued at $388,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.76% of the company’s stock.

About Paylocity

Paylocity (NASDAQ: PCTY) is a leading provider of cloud-based payroll and human capital management (HCM) software designed to streamline workforce administration for mid-sized organizations. The company’s integrated platform automates core functions such as payroll processing, benefits administration, time and labor tracking, and compliance management, enabling employers to manage employee data more efficiently and reduce administrative burdens.

In addition to payroll and HR capabilities, Paylocity offers talent management solutions including recruiting, onboarding, performance tracking, and learning management.