Paychex, Inc. $PAYX Shares Acquired by Aviva PLC

Aviva PLC raised its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 6.5% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 245,406 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,946 shares during the quarter. Aviva PLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $35,697,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. AGF Management Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Paychex by 7.5% in the 2nd quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 19,308 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,809,000 after acquiring an additional 1,347 shares during the last quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Paychex by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 15,226 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,349,000 after purchasing an additional 324 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC increased its stake in Paychex by 4.2% in the 2nd quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 18,237 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,653,000 after purchasing an additional 731 shares in the last quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. increased its stake in Paychex by 6.9% in the 2nd quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 13,372 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,945,000 after purchasing an additional 861 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atlas Legacy Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Paychex by 13.7% during the 2nd quarter. Atlas Legacy Advisors LLC now owns 4,357 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $634,000 after buying an additional 524 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on PAYX shares. Jefferies Financial Group set a $130.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. Stephens upgraded Paychex to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Weiss Ratings raised Paychex from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of Paychex from $143.00 to $140.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Paychex from $140.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $139.87.

Paychex Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of Paychex stock opened at $111.96 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $40.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.93. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $127.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $140.21. Paychex, Inc. has a 52-week low of $110.70 and a 52-week high of $161.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick 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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.02. The firm 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 company’s revenue was up 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.16 earnings per share. Paychex has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.428-5.528 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 26th. Investors of record on Friday, November 7th will be issued a $1.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 7th. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.9%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.