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

Paylocity (NASDAQ:PCTY) was downgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on PCTY. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Paylocity from $143.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Paylocity from $180.00 to $165.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 29th. Robert W. Baird set a $201.00 price objective on Paylocity in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. KeyCorp lifted their target price on Paylocity from $172.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Paylocity from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Paylocity currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $166.71.

Paylocity Price Performance

Paylocity stock opened at $177.19 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $152.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $128.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.40 billion, a PE ratio of 31.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09. Paylocity has a 12 month low of $92.99 and a 12 month high of $178.24.

Paylocity (NASDAQ:PCTY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The software maker reported $1.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $444.73 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $431.46 million. Paylocity had a net margin of 15.23% and a return on equity of 27.02%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.56 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Paylocity will post 6.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Paylocity

In related news, Chairman Steven Beauchamp sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.22, for a total value of $2,478,300.00. Following the sale, the chairman directly owned 1,243,389 shares in the company, valued at approximately $205,432,730.58. The trade was a 1.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Steven I. Sarowitz sold 19,459 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $157.78, for a total transaction of $3,070,241.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 4,453,495 shares in the company, valued at approximately $702,672,441.10. The trade was a 0.44% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 119,214 shares of company stock valued at $19,164,836. 19.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Paylocity

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Signaturefd LLC grew its stake in shares of Paylocity by 7.2% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 3,520 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $502,000 after acquiring an additional 237 shares during the period. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI boosted its holdings in Paylocity by 10.8% during the 3rd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 3,373 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $481,000 after acquiring an additional 329 shares during the period. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Paylocity during the 3rd quarter valued at about $281,000. MBL Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Paylocity during the third quarter valued at about $287,000. Finally, Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Paylocity in the third quarter worth about $96,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.76% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Paylocity

Here are the key news stories impacting Paylocity this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Paylocity launched its AI-powered Recruiting Optimizer, part of its Ignite AI platform. The company says the tool can improve recruiter productivity by 35%, accelerate hiring by 25% and reduce candidate drop-off by 15%, strengthening its competitive position in cloud-based human capital management software. Paylocity launches AI-powered Recruiting Optimizer
• Positive Sentiment: Citizens JMP raised its price target on PCTY from $150 to $180 while maintaining a “market outperform” rating, indicating confidence in further gains. Citizens JMP raises Paylocity price target
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks highlighted Paylocity’s history of exceeding earnings estimates and said the company currently has the key conditions needed for a potential beat in its next quarterly report. Zacks analysis of Paylocity earnings expectations
• Positive Sentiment: Paylocity’s latest quarterly results beat consensus, with earnings of $1.84 per share versus $1.62 expected and revenue of $444.73 million versus $431.46 million expected. Revenue increased 11% year over year, supporting the company’s growth narrative.
• Neutral Sentiment: Institutional ownership remains high at roughly 94.8%, while several investment firms initiated or expanded positions during the third quarter. The individual trades were relatively small but suggest continued institutional interest.
• Negative Sentiment: Director Steven Sarowitz sold 10,617 shares for approximately $1.80 million on October 20 and 5,744 shares for about $978,000 on October 21, following an earlier sale of 10,445 shares. The transactions were executed under pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plans, and Sarowitz still owns more than 4.39 million shares, making the sales a modest reduction in his stake; nevertheless, repeated insider selling can create some pressure while PCTY trades near its 52-week high. Paylocity director stock sale

Paylocity Company Profile

Paylocity Holding Corporation (NASDAQ:PCTY) provides cloud-based human capital management (HCM) and payroll software for organizations. Its platform is designed to help employers manage payroll, human resources, employee benefits, talent acquisition, onboarding, performance, learning, and workforce administration through an integrated system.

The company also offers tools for time and labor management, scheduling, employee communications, engagement, surveys, expense management, and other workplace activities.