Grandfield & Dodd LLC Lowers Stock Position in Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

Grandfield & Dodd LLC trimmed its position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 375,588 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 3,969 shares during the quarter. Paychex comprises 3.2% of Grandfield & Dodd LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Grandfield & Dodd LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $54,633,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. NewSquare Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 83.8% during the 2nd quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 215 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the period. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in Paychex during the first quarter valued at about $34,000. Nova Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in Paychex during the first quarter worth about $38,000. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Paychex by 40.6% in the second quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC now owns 263 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Whipplewood Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Paychex by 94.0% in the second quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 293 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Paychex to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Paychex from $132.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Paychex from $153.00 to $140.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on Paychex from $143.00 to $140.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $130.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research note on Tuesday, September 30th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $139.87.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $111.80 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $125.00 and its 200-day moving average price is $139.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.12, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.93. Paychex, Inc. has a one year low of $109.99 and a one year high of $161.24.

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

Paychex Announces Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $1.08 per share. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.