Paychex, Inc. $PAYX Stock Holdings Trimmed by Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co.

Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. reduced its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 19,223 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 228 shares during the quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $2,796,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ascent Group LLC increased its holdings in Paychex by 8.7% in the second quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 14,939 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,173,000 after buying an additional 1,196 shares during the last quarter. New Century Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Paychex during the second quarter valued at approximately $239,000. Two Point Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Paychex during the second quarter valued at approximately $8,761,000. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of Paychex by 7.2% during the second quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 72,087 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $10,486,000 after purchasing an additional 4,852 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mattern Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Paychex by 0.5% during the second quarter. Mattern Capital Management LLC now owns 63,344 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $9,214,000 after purchasing an additional 308 shares during the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. TD Cowen lowered their target price on Paychex from $140.00 to $126.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group set a $130.00 target price on Paychex in a report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Paychex from $148.00 to $153.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Paychex from $148.00 to $132.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on Paychex from $158.00 to $148.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $142.77.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PAYX opened at $124.61 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $135.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $144.39. The company has a market cap of $44.85 billion, a PE ratio of 28.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.92. Paychex, Inc. has a 12-month low of $119.02 and a 12-month high of $161.24.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, September 30th. The business services provider reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.54 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.17% and a net margin of 27.85%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.16 earnings per share. Paychex has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.428-5.528 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 21st were given a $1.08 dividend. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 21st. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is 97.08%.

Paychex Company 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.