Carnegie Investment Counsel Decreases Stock Position in Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

Carnegie Investment Counsel decreased its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 10.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,909 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,336 shares during the quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel’s holdings in Paychex were worth $1,587,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Paychex in the 1st quarter valued at about $34,000. Quarry LP acquired a new position in Paychex in the 1st quarter valued at about $34,000. Tsfg LLC raised its stake in Paychex by 122.3% in the 1st quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 229 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares during the last quarter. Nova Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Paychex in the 1st quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Bogart Wealth LLC raised its stake in Paychex by 32.5% in the 2nd quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 379 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on PAYX shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Paychex to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Paychex from $142.00 to $137.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Paychex in a research note on Thursday. They set a “neutral” rating and a $139.00 price objective for the company. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Paychex from $143.00 to $140.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Paychex from $140.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Paychex has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $139.87.

Paychex Stock Down 0.1%

PAYX opened at $124.60 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $131.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $142.22. The company has a market cap of $44.84 billion, a PE ratio of 28.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.92. Paychex, Inc. has a 1 year low of $119.02 and a 1 year high of $161.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.27.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, September 30th. The business services provider reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) 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 net margin of 27.85% and a return on equity of 45.17%. The company’s 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. Sell-side analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 26th. Investors of record on Friday, November 7th will be given a dividend of $1.08 per share. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is 97.08%.

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.