Modern Wealth Management LLC Acquires 3,079 Shares of Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

Modern Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 28.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 13,814 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,079 shares during the quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $2,131,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of PAYX. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 26.3% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 5,710 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $801,000 after purchasing an additional 1,190 shares during the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 4,035 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $566,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Paychex in the fourth quarter worth about $512,000. Nomura Holdings Inc. grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 148.8% in the fourth quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 43,826 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,145,000 after purchasing an additional 133,656 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pathstone Holdings LLC grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 54,172 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,604,000 after purchasing an additional 2,033 shares during the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Paychex

In other news, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 97,526 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.17, for a total transaction of $14,157,849.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman directly owned 446,917 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,878,940.89. This trade represents a 17.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,370 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.92, for a total transaction of $1,755,550.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 81,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,602,669.60. The trade was a 13.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Paychex from $150.00 to $148.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 27th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Paychex from $156.00 to $152.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $165.00 price objective on shares of Paychex and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Paychex from $148.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $140.00 price objective on shares of Paychex and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $149.70.

Paychex Price Performance

PAYX stock opened at $135.11 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $140.44 and a 200-day moving average price of $146.55. Paychex, Inc. has a 52-week low of $131.83 and a 52-week high of $161.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.56, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a current ratio of 1.28.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, June 25th. The business services provider reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.19. Paychex had a net margin of 29.75% and a return on equity of 45.01%. The firm had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.38 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.12 earnings per share. Paychex has set its FY 2026 guidance at EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 21st were issued a dividend of $1.08 per share. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 21st. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 94.53%.

Paychex Profile

Paychex, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides integrated human capital management solutions (HCM) for payroll, benefits, human resources (HR), and insurance services for small to medium-sized businesses in the United States, Europe, and India. It offers payroll processing services; payroll tax administration services; employee payment services; and regulatory compliance services, such as new-hire reporting and garnishment processing.