Paylocity (NASDAQ:PCTY) Earns Buy Rating from Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of Paylocity (NASDAQ:PCTY) in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. Needham & Company LLC currently has a $200.00 target price on the software maker’s stock.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of Paylocity from $210.00 to $194.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of Paylocity from $225.00 to $195.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Paylocity from $205.00 to $185.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. Truist Financial lowered their price target on shares of Paylocity from $200.00 to $195.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Paylocity from $178.00 to $155.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $179.40.

Paylocity Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PCTY opened at $153.02 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $140.64 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $156.89. The firm has a market cap of $8.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.92. Paylocity has a fifty-two week low of $129.94 and a fifty-two week high of $210.68.

Paylocity (NASDAQ:PCTY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The software maker reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.29 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $357.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $350.29 million. Paylocity had a net margin of 14.74% and a return on equity of 22.40%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.76 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Paylocity will post 4.14 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Nicholas Rost sold 331 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.73, for a total value of $45,919.63. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,751 shares in the company, valued at approximately $659,106.23. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Paylocity news, CEO Steven R. Beauchamp sold 49,442 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.68, for a total transaction of $7,054,384.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,745,022 shares in the company, valued at $248,979,738.96. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Nicholas Rost sold 331 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.73, for a total transaction of $45,919.63. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,751 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $659,106.23. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 51,173 shares of company stock worth $7,296,388. 22.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in Paylocity by 119.0% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 1,211,021 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $199,637,000 after acquiring an additional 658,057 shares in the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP raised its holdings in Paylocity by 35.0% in the first quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 2,396,692 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $411,895,000 after acquiring an additional 621,946 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC acquired a new stake in Paylocity in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $82,172,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its holdings in Paylocity by 2,212.5% in the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 381,952 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $62,965,000 after acquiring an additional 365,435 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in Paylocity by 3.3% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,833,794 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $1,518,176,000 after purchasing an additional 278,607 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.76% of the company’s stock.

About Paylocity

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.