Over the past three decades, Paylocity Holding Corp (PCTY 1.18%) has grown into a company specializing in premier human resources solutions. Demonstrating its commitment to embracing innovative human capital management solutions, Paylocity has developed solutions that integrate artificial intelligence (AI) tools to enhance its cloud-based human resources, finance, and other solutions.
Although investors may be attracted to Paylocity stock, there are some important considerations to weigh before they choose to buy shares, from whether the stock aligns with their investing goals to verifying if the company offers dividends.
How to invest
How to buy Paylocity stock
Investors have to only complete a few simple steps before they count Paylocity stock among their holdings.
- Open your brokerage app: Log into your brokerage account where you handle your investments.
- Search for the stock: Enter the ticker or company name into the search bar to bring up the stock's trading page.
- Decide how many shares to buy: Consider your investment goals and how much of your portfolio you want to allocate to this stock.
- Select order type: Choose between a market order to buy at the current price or a limit order to specify the maximum price you're willing to pay.
- Submit your order: Confirm the details and submit your buy order.
- Review your purchase: Check your portfolio to ensure your order was filled as expected, and adjust your investment strategy accordingly.
Should I invest?
Should I invest in Paylocity?
Since investing goals vary, it's impossible to categorically say whether Paylocity stock is right for everyone. For one, those who prioritize passive income will immediately find that Paylocity is not right for them since the company doesn't pay a dividend.
Investors looking for cloud computing exposure will find Paylocity to be an appealing option. It's a leader in cloud-based solutions for human capital management, as well as payroll and expense management software solutions.
Investors who are keenly focused on companies with rock-solid balance sheets that are financially strong will be open to an investment in Paylocity. At the end of fiscal 2025, the company had a net cash position of $236 million. Plus, it consistently generates both profits (more about that below) and strong free cash flow. From fiscal years 2016 through 2025, for example, Paylocity increased free cash flow per share at a 50.4% compound annual growth rate (CAGR).
Profitability
Is Paylocity profitable?
After reporting net losses for the better part of the early 2010s, Paylocity generated diluted earnings per share (EPS) of $0.12 in fiscal 2017, and it has continued reporting a profit since. In fact, over the past eight years, Paylocity has demonstrated impressive skill at growing profitability, raising its diluted EPS at a 55.1% CAGR.
Although Paylocity hasn't provided fiscal 2026 guidance with respect to EPS, investors can probably assume that the company will continue to report a rise in profits. Management projects that the company will generate $614 million in adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA). If Paylocity achieves its goal, it will represent year-over-year adjusted EBITDA growth of 5.3%.
Dividends
Does Paylocity pay a dividend?
As of October 2025, Paylocity didn't pay a dividend, and it's not something that appears to be a priority for the company in the near future. In the company's 2025 10-K filing, the company states, "We have not declared or paid dividends on our common stock in the past three fiscal years and do not currently intend to do so for the foreseeable future."
Instead of returning capital to shareholders, the company said it will invest future earnings to fund growth and pay for other corporate initiatives."
ETF options
ETFs with exposure to Paylocity
For those interested in maximal exposure to Paylocity, buying shares of Paylocity is the best choice, but investors interested in a more measured approach will likely find an exchange-traded fund (ETF) that features Paylocity stock as one of its holdings to be a better option.
Investors taking the ETF route may find the WisdomTree Cloud Computing ETF (WCLD -0.02%) to be a compelling option. A leading cloud computing ETF, the WisdomTree Cloud Computing ETF seeks to match the performance of the BVP Nasdaq Emerging Cloud Index, which WisdomTree characterizes as "an equally weighted Index designed to measure the performance of emerging public companies focused on delivering cloud-based software to customers." The fund has a 0.45% expense ratio, and Paylocity has a 1.2% weighting.
Among the few ETFs that include Paylocity in their portfolios, the First Trust Cloud Computing ETF (SKYY -0.41%) is a smart option. The exposure to Paylocity is modest -- it has a 0.50% weighting in the fund -- but for investors interested in broad cloud computing exposure, the First Trust Cloud Computing ETF delivers. In addition to prominent cloud platform providers like Amazon (AMZN -0.61%) and Microsoft (MSFT 0.5%), the ETF includes data center stocks like CoreWeave (CRWV -3.44%) and DigitalOcean (DOCN -3.74%) among its top holdings. The ETF has $3.3 billion in net assets and an 0.60% expense ratio.
Stock splits
Will Paylocity stock split?
While some notable stocks split in 2024, there haven't been many stock splits to speak of in 2025, and there don't appear to be many on the horizon, including Paylocity.
In fact, from its initial public offering (IPO) in 2014 through October 2025, Paylocity had never split its stock. Because companies often choose to split stocks to bring the share prices down -- and make them more attractive to investors -- investors will look to stocks that have high price tags as candidates for a stock split. Since shares of Paylocity traded around $150 in late 2025 and since many brokerages offer investors the option to buy fractional shares of stocks, it's unlikely that management will choose to pursue a split in the near future.
Related investing topics
The bottom line on Paylocity stock
Investors interested in portfolio diversification, Paychex is a conservative choice to balance out some of the higher risk stocks that investors may be holding. The company consistently generates both profits and free cash flow.
FAQ
Investing in Paylocity: FAQ
Is PCTY a good investment?
Investing goals vary, so it's impossible to say if Paylocity is a good investment for everyone. For those interested in a consistently profitable company that generates strong free cash flow and has a strong balance sheet, Paylocity stock is a great option.
Is Paylocity publicly traded?
Paylocity has been a publicly traded company since its 2014 IPO.
What is the ticker for Paylocity?
Paylocity stock is available on the Nasdaq exchange, and it trades under the stock ticker PCTY.
