PFG Investments LLC Buys 1,250 Shares of Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

PFG Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 21.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,160 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,250 shares during the quarter. PFG Investments LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $1,041,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of PAYX. Select Equity Group L.P. boosted its position in Paychex by 99.0% in the 1st quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 3,494,312 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $539,102,000 after buying an additional 1,738,372 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Paychex during the first quarter worth $134,192,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 7.3% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,782,173 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,663,474,000 after acquiring an additional 737,542 shares during the period. Neuberger Berman Group LLC boosted its holdings in Paychex by 117.6% in the first quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 1,217,092 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $187,512,000 after acquiring an additional 657,871 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in Paychex by 25.7% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,844,949 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $438,919,000 after purchasing an additional 581,410 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PAYX has been the topic of a number of research reports. TD Cowen cut their target price on shares of Paychex from $140.00 to $126.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays set a $155.00 price objective on shares of Paychex and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Paychex from $148.00 to $132.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Paychex from $153.00 to $148.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price objective on Paychex from $148.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $142.83.

Paychex Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of NASDAQ PAYX opened at $123.42 on Friday. Paychex, Inc. has a twelve month low of $119.02 and a twelve month high of $161.24. The stock has a market cap of $44.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a quick ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The company’s fifty day moving average is $136.13 and its 200-day moving average is $144.55.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, September 30th. The business services provider reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.54 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 27.85% and a return on equity of 45.17%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.16 EPS. Paychex has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.428-5.528 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 21st were given a dividend of $1.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 21st. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 97.08%.

Insider Activity

In other Paychex news, CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,370 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.92, for a total value of $1,755,550.40. Following 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 97,526 shares of the company’s 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 owned 446,917 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $64,878,940.89. This trade represents a 17.91% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

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.