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

Paylocity (NASDAQ:PCTY) was downgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on Paylocity from $172.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $165.00 target price on shares of Paylocity in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating on shares of Paylocity in a research note on Tuesday, October 20th. Guggenheim lifted their price target on shares of Paylocity from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, UBS Group set a $175.00 price target on shares of Paylocity in a research note on Tuesday, September 29th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $166.71.

Paylocity Price Performance

Shares of PCTY opened at $177.19 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $152.14 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $128.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.80, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.50. Paylocity has a 52 week low of $92.99 and a 52 week high of $178.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.09.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Craig Conway sold 3,145 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.80, for a total value of $493,136.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 2,207 shares in the company, valued at approximately $346,057.60. This represents a 58.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Chairman Steven Beauchamp sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.22, for a total value of $2,478,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman directly owned 1,243,389 shares in the company, valued at $205,432,730.58. The trade was a 1.19% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 119,214 shares of company stock valued at $19,164,836 in the last three months. 19.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Paylocity

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Apollon Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Paylocity during the 3rd quarter worth about $245,000. Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in shares of Paylocity by 7.2% in the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 3,520 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $502,000 after acquiring an additional 237 shares during the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI raised its position in shares of Paylocity by 10.8% in 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 acquired a new stake in shares of Paylocity in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $281,000. Finally, MBL Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Paylocity in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $287,000. Institutional investors own 94.76% of the company’s stock.

More Paylocity News

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

About Paylocity

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.