At a glance
Paylocity Holdng is worth $8.94B, about 34 times its fiscal 2026 earnings. Revenue grew 11.0% to $1.77B in fiscal 2026, with 15.2% kept as profit; over 5 years it has grown 22.7% a year. It pays no dividend; it spent $697.8M buying back its shares over FY2022–FY2026. The stock returned +12.9% over the past year with dividends reinvested and −11.0% a year over five years, against +11.5% and +11.7% for the S&P 500. At its worst it fell 47.6% in the 2020 crash (S&P 500: 33.7%) and 33.4% in the 2022 bear market (S&P 500: 24.5%), and was back at its earlier high 3 months and 2 months after the lows.
The business in plain English
Paylocity sells cloud-based software that U.S. employers use to run payroll, HR, finance and IT tasks in one system. It is software-as-a-service (SaaS), meaning clients pay to use it over the internet instead of installing it themselves. As of June 30, 2026, it served about 44,400 clients across the U.S., excluding acquired clients. They typically have 10 to 5,000 employees, averaging over 150.
Payroll and tax filing sit at the core: the software calculates pay, deductions and withholdings and files tax documents with local, state and federal agencies. Around that are HR, employee self-service, time tracking and scheduling, plus finance tools (expense management, accounts payable, corporate cards) and IT tools that automate access to software and hardware. An AI layer called Ignite AI runs across the platform. Paylocity sells through its own sales force and also draws leads from a referral network of 401(k) advisors, benefits administrators, insurance brokers and accountants.
Fees depend on which products a client buys and how many employees it has, so revenue is mostly recurring. Its annual revenue retention rate, roughly the share of revenue kept from existing clients, topped 92% in each of fiscal 2024, 2025 and 2026. Revenue rose 11% to $1,771.3 million in fiscal 2026 (the year ended June 30). The 10-K gives no revenue split by product or region.
Price history
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PCTY +12.9% over the year to Oct 28, 2026, total return with dividends reinvested.
Latest results
- In Q4 FY2026 (ended Jun 30, 2026), revenue was $444.7M, up 11% from a year earlier, and net income was $60.3M (+24.1%).
- For fiscal 2026, revenue was $1.77B (+11.0% year over year; +22.7% a year from FY2021 to FY2026) with a 15.2% net margin.
Financial health check
| Revenue growth a year (FY2021–FY2026) | +22.7% good |
|---|---|
| Operating margin | 21.8% good |
| Free cash flow margin | 28.1% good |
| Return on equity (FY2026) | 22.1% good |
| Return on assets (FY2026) | 5.5% watch |
| Net cash (cash minus debt) | $190.7M good |
| Fiscal year | Revenue | Net income | Free cash flow |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2021 | $635.6M | $70.8M | $115.4M |
| FY2022 | $852.7M | $90.8M | $137.0M |
| FY2023 | $1.17B | $140.8M | $260.8M |
| FY2024 | $1.40B | $206.8M | $366.6M |
| FY2025 | $1.60B | $227.1M | $405.2M |
| FY2026 | $1.77B | $269.7M | $497.1M |
Valuation snapshot
| Market value | $8.94B |
|---|---|
| P/E ratio | 34.2 |
| Dividend yield | None |
Rank among 1514 US companies
Market value at each year end
Paylocity Holdng’s market value went from $1.54B at the end of 2016 to $8.94B on Oct 28, 2026, about 5.8 times as much; since the end of 2025 it is up 8%.
Show as a table
| Year end | Market value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 28, 2026 | $8.94B | +7.8% |
| 2025 | $8.29B | -25.4% |
| 2024 | $11.12B | +20.1% |
| 2023 | $9.26B | -14.4% |
| 2022 | $10.82B | -16.8% |
| 2021 | $13.00B | +16.3% |
| 2020 | $11.17B | +72.8% |
| 2019 | $6.47B | +103.4% |
| 2018 | $3.18B | +28.4% |
| 2017 | $2.48B | +60.7% |
| 2016 | $1.54B |
Price behavior
| YTD | 1 yr | 3 yr | 5 yr | 10 yr | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PCTY price data to Oct 28, 2026 | +10.5% | +12.9% | -1.1% | -11.0% | +14.5% |
Show as a table
| Year | Price data |
|---|---|
| 2026 (to date) | +10.5% |
| 2025 | -23.6% |
| 2024 | +21.0% |
| 2023 | -15.1% |
| 2022 | -17.7% |
| 2021 | +14.7% |
| 2020 | +70.4% |
| 2019 | +100.7% |
| 2018 | +27.7% |
| 2017 | +57.1% |
| 2016 | -26.0% |
| 2015 | +55.3% |
| 2008 financial crisis stocks fell Oct 9, 2007 – Mar 9, 2009 | Before this security existed |
|---|---|
| 2020 COVID crash stocks fell Feb 19, 2020 – Mar 23, 2020 | Lost 47% over that stretch · deepest drop along the way 47.6%, back to its old high 3.4 months after the low |
| 2022 bear market stocks fell Jan 3, 2022 – Oct 12, 2022 | Lost 2.9% over that stretch · deepest drop along the way 33.4%, back to its old high 1.6 months after the low |
Insider activity
Form 4 filings from 2025-10-30 to 2026-10-30 (25 read): 0 open-market purchases and 62 sales ($28.9M), 60 of them under pre-arranged 10b5-1 trading plans.
| Date | Insider | Type | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 15, 2026 | Steven I Sarowitz Director, 10% owner | sell (plan) | $1.9M |
| Oct 23, 2026 | Steven I Sarowitz Director, 10% owner | sell (plan) | $1.8M |
| Aug 27, 2026 | Steven I Sarowitz Director, 10% owner | sell (plan) | $1.6M |
| Oct 22, 2026 | Steven I Sarowitz Director, 10% owner | sell (plan) | $1.4M |
| Aug 19, 2026 | Steven I Sarowitz Director, 10% owner | sell (plan) | $1.3M |
Who owns it
Large shareholders (13G filings)
| Steven Ira Sarowitz | 15.8% | Dec 31, 2024 |
| T. Rowe Price Investment Management, Inc. | 5.8% | Jun 30, 2026 |
| T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc. | 2.4% | Sep 30, 2025 |
ETFs with the most weight in PCTY
| SOVF Sovereign's Capital Flourish Fund | 1.83% |
| WCLD WisdomTree Cloud Computing Fund | 1.6% |
| RFG Invesco S&P MidCap 400® Pure Growth ETF | 1.33% |
| JSMD Janus Henderson Small/Mid Cap Growth Alpha ETF | 1.19% |
| AOTG AOT Growth and Innovation ETF | 1.12% |
| FSGS First Trust SMID Growth Strength ETF | 1.1% |
| QMID WisdomTree U.S. MidCap Quality Growth Fund | 1.08% |
| SKYY First Trust Cloud Computing ETF | 0.74% |
What could go wrong
- Paying out before client money clears. Paylocity typically pays client employees, tax agencies and vendors before a client's electronic transfer has finally settled. If banks reject those transfers, it may need extra short-term funding and its results could suffer.
- Client funds face interest rate and credit risk. Paylocity holds client payroll and tax money until it is paid out, along with its own investments. Those funds face market, interest rate, credit and liquidity risks, and losses could hurt the business.
- Revenue tied to clients' headcount and budgets. Fees rise and fall with how many people clients employ. Layoffs, tighter client budgets, interest rate changes, inflation or tariff uncertainty could reduce revenue, and largely fixed costs mean shortfalls can hit margins.
- Outages or bugs could disrupt payroll. Clients rely on Paylocity to pay staff on time. Data center failures, problems at third-party service providers or software errors could cause outages, damage its reputation and lead to claims against the company.
- Rivals and AI tools could erode demand. The market is highly competitive and changes fast. New AI-based products could do the same work more cheaply or conveniently, and if Paylocity's own AI gives unreliable outputs, it risks unhappy clients or lawsuits.
- Privacy and payroll rules keep changing. Paylocity handles sensitive pay, tax and personal data for its clients' employees. Breaking data privacy laws, or new rules affecting its software, services or clients' taxes, could raise costs and harm its reputation.
Recent events
- Major agreement signed; New debt or financial obligation
- Executive or board change
- Quarterly results released
- Quarterly results released; Other company announcement
- Quarterly results released
- Executive or board change; Shareholder vote results
- Quarterly results released
For income and retirement investors
Paylocity pays no dividend, and its 10-K says it does not intend to pay one, so any return depends on the share price rising. Income investors would receive no cash payments from holding it. The company returns cash through share buybacks instead: $697.8 million over fiscal 2022 to 2026, including $398.1 million in fiscal 2026. The share count fell 2.8% over about five years, to 53.1 million as of July 29, 2026.
The stock has swung sharply. It fell 47.6% in the 2020 COVID crash, then regained its prior high by July 1, 2020, about 3.4 months after the low. In the 2022 bear market it dropped 33.4%, bounced back by August 2022, yet still ended the year down 17.7%. Its largest fall over about 12.6 years of price history was 68.9%, and as of October 28, 2026 it was down 44% over five years. A single stock carries more risk than a diversified fund.
Questions investors ask
How does Paylocity make money?
Paylocity makes money by charging employers for its cloud-based payroll, HR, time-tracking, finance and IT software. Fees depend on which products a client buys, how many employees it has, and the services provided for those employees. That creates mostly recurring revenue: annual revenue retention topped 92% in each of fiscal 2024, 2025 and 2026. As of June 30, 2026, it served about 44,400 U.S. clients, excluding acquired ones, and revenue reached $1,771.3 million in fiscal 2026.
Does Paylocity pay a dividend?
No. Paylocity paid no dividends from fiscal 2022 through 2026, and its 10-K says it does not intend to pay them, so shareholder returns depend on the share price. Instead, it buys back stock: $697.8 million over those five years, including $398.1 million in fiscal 2026. Buybacks return cash indirectly by reducing the share count, which raises each remaining share's slice of earnings. Shares outstanding fell 2.8% over about five years.
Is Paylocity profitable?
Yes. In fiscal 2026, which ended June 30, 2026, Paylocity earned $269.7 million in net income on $1,771.3 million of revenue, a 15.2% net margin. Net income grew 18.8%, and diluted earnings per share rose to $4.92 from $4.02. Free cash flow, the cash left after day-to-day operations and capital spending, was $497.1 million. As of October 28, 2026, the stock traded at 34.2 times fiscal 2026 earnings, known as its price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio.
How has Paylocity stock performed?
Strongly over 10 years but poorly over five. As of October 28, 2026, the stock was up 287% over 10 years, about 14.5% a year, but down 44% over five years, about 11% a year, and down about 3% over three years. By calendar year, it fell 17.7% in 2022 and 15.1% in 2023, rose 21% in 2024, fell 23.6% in 2025, and was up 10.5% year to date in 2026. Over the past year its deepest drop was 38.2%.
Does Paylocity have a lot of debt?
Not much, as of June 30, 2026. Paylocity reported $81.3 million of total debt against $271.9 million of cash and investments, leaving about $190.7 million in net cash, meaning cash exceeds debt. It also has a revolving credit agreement, a standing borrowing line, whose covenants (loan conditions) could limit how it runs the business. A company filing dated September 17, 2026 reported a major new agreement and a new debt or financial obligation, so those figures may have changed.