Paylocity (PCTY) Competitors

Datadog (NASDAQ:DDOG) and Paylocity (NASDAQ:PCTY) are both large-cap computer and technology companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, earnings, institutional ownership, media sentiment, valuation, risk, community ranking, analyst recommendations and dividends.

Does the media favor DDOG or PCTY?

In the previous week, Datadog had 32 more articles in the media than Paylocity. MarketBeat recorded 40 mentions for Datadog and 8 mentions for Paylocity. Paylocity's average media sentiment score of 1.52 beat Datadog's score of 0.61 indicating that Paylocity is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Datadog	19 Very Positive mention(s)	3 Positive mention(s)	7 Neutral mention(s)	9 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Paylocity	7 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive

Do insiders and institutionals hold more shares of DDOG or PCTY?

78.3% of Datadog shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 94.8% of Paylocity shares are held by institutional investors. 11.8% of Datadog shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 21.9% of Paylocity shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Which has higher earnings and valuation, DDOG or PCTY?

Paylocity has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Datadog. Paylocity is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Datadog, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Datadog	$2.68B	15.15	$183.75M	$0.51	234.66
Paylocity	$1.40B	8.16	$206.77M	$3.90	52.52

Which has more volatility & risk, DDOG or PCTY?

Datadog has a beta of 1.15, suggesting that its share price is 15% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Paylocity has a beta of 0.95, suggesting that its share price is 5% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer DDOG or PCTY?

Paylocity received 262 more outperform votes than Datadog when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 67.93% of users gave Paylocity an outperform vote while only 66.10% of users gave Datadog an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Datadog	Outperform Votes 310 66.10%	Underperform Votes 159 33.90%
Paylocity	Outperform Votes 572 67.93%	Underperform Votes 270 32.07%

Is DDOG or PCTY more profitable?

Paylocity has a net margin of 14.76% compared to Datadog's net margin of 6.85%. Paylocity's return on equity of 22.45% beat Datadog's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Datadog	6.85%	8.28%	4.55%
Paylocity	14.76%	22.45%	5.35%

Do analysts rate DDOG or PCTY?

Datadog presently has a consensus target price of $158.39, suggesting a potential upside of 32.35%. Paylocity has a consensus target price of $233.25, suggesting a potential upside of 13.88%. Given Datadog's higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Datadog is more favorable than Paylocity.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Datadog	1 Sell rating(s)	7 Hold rating(s)	22 Buy rating(s)	2 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.78
Paylocity	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	14 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.88

Summary

Paylocity beats Datadog on 11 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.