Several hedge funds and other institutional investors acquired a new stake in tech platform providers in recent months, such as payroll software company Paylocity and Okta, Inc., which offers identity-based tech solutions.
Okta's customer- and workforce-oriented solutions supply identity authentication, authorization, and other capabilities. Sixteen research analysts have given the company's stock a buy rating, according to MarketBeat—including Westpark Capital, which also specified a target price of $140 for shares of Okta in a research note that was published in December.
During the same month, Morgan Stanley raised its price objective for the company's stock from $92 to $97, and DA Davidson lifted its price target for Okta from $75 to $90.
In the third quarter of 2024, global value-oriented and event-driven hedge fund Armistice Capital obtained 4,139 shares of Okta's stock, according to the 13F form the fund submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission for the Sept. 30 quarterly reporting date. No shares of Okta's stock were listed in Armistice Capital's second quarter 13F filing.
Other institutional investors also bought shares of Okta in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc., for instance, added 191 shares of the company's stock, a more than 105% increase from the amount it owned in the previous quarter, which MarketBeat reported in February was valued at roughly $28,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC gained a new position in Okta in the third quarter, purchasing shares that were worth approximately $32,000.
Software that Addresses Payroll and Human Capital Management Needs
Institutional investors, including Armistice Capital and Prospera Private Wealth LLC, also pursued ownership of Paylocity's stock in the third quarter of 2024.
Founded in 1997, Paylocity's platform was designed to assist with benefits, core HR, payroll, talent, and workforce management. The company earned a number of designations last year, including being named to Forbes' America's Best Large Employers 2024 list and the America's Greatest Workplaces for Diversity 2024 list compiled by Newsweek.
While Armistice Capital did not report owning any shares of Paylocity's stock in its June 30 SEC filing, the 13F form the hedge fund submitted for the Sept. 30 filing date says it had obtained 1,424 shares of the company's stock.
The new stake Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired in Paylocity in the third quarter of 2024, according to MarketBeat, was worth approximately $39,000.
Other institutional investors that had owned shares of the company's stock in the previous quarter added to their holdings in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC purchased an additional 167 shares of Paylocity's stock, bringing its total number of shares to 305. In addition to Signaturefd's 121% increase in ownership, Quarry LP's purchase of 185 more shares left it with 309 shares of Paylocity's stock—a more than 149% increase, MarketBeat said.
As of February 5, institutional investors owned 75.78% of the company's stock, according to Nasdaq.
Thirteen research analysts—such as Jefferies Financial Group, which increased its price target for shares of Paylocity from $215 to $240 in December—have given the company's stock a buy rating, according to MarketBeat.
Additional Investments
Some of the other tech companies institutional investors sought ownership of in 2024 include Datadog, which provides software-as-a-service infrastructure, network and application monitoring, and other proficiencies—and Adobe, which offers solutions for creative professionals.
Institutional investors and hedge funds own more than 78% of Datadog's stock, according to MarketBeat; in early February, the publication reported that GAMMA Investing LLC had added 92 shares of Datadog's stock, for a total of 563 shares, in the third quarter—an increase of more than 19%.
Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased 115 shares of the company's stock, raising its amount of shares by 66.5% to a total of 288 shares. Hudock Inc. obtained 116 more shares of Datadog's stock during the quarter, giving it 3,596 shares—a more than 3% bump.
Armistice Capital, which held 199,183 shares of Datadog in the second quarter, acquired additional shares in the following quarter, amassing a total of 260,000 shares of the company's stock—which Nasdaq suggests was about a 30% increase.
Armistice Capital and Meeder Asset Management also increased their ownership of Adobe in the third quarter of 2024.
The company's digital media, digital experience, and publishing and advertising segments provide products and services that range from document creation and editing software to the Photoshop digital imaging tool and flagship Creative Cloud subscription to its design, video, and other apps.
As of February 2025, Adobe had an institutional investor ownership of roughly 82%, according to Nasdaq.
The 13F form Meeder Asset Management filed for the June 30 reporting date shows it owned 195 shares of Adobe; after adding 61 shares of the company's stock, Meeder Asset Management had 256 shares in the third quarter.
Armistice Capital moved from owning 27,149 shares of Adobe's stock in the second quarter to having 31,382 shares in the third quarter, according to its quarterly holdings reports.
