Guinness Asset Management LTD Has $210.26 Million Stake in Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

Guinness Asset Management LTD grew its holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 1,635,852 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,345 shares during the quarter. Paychex accounts for 3.3% of Guinness Asset Management LTD’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest position. Guinness Asset Management LTD’s holdings in Paychex were worth $210,256,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of PAYX. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its stake in Paychex by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 18,165 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,303,000 after purchasing an additional 1,032 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Paychex by 19.6% during the third quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 697 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $88,000 after acquiring an additional 114 shares in the last quarter. Howe & Rusling Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 16.5% during the third quarter. Howe & Rusling Inc. now owns 12,518 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,587,000 after acquiring an additional 1,777 shares during the period. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 2.5% during the third quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 17,069 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,164,000 after acquiring an additional 412 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Paychex by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,979,330 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $250,900,000 after acquiring an additional 30,117 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PAYX has been the subject of a number of research reports. Argus lowered their target price on Paychex from $150.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald raised Paychex to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Paychex from $128.00 to $116.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Paychex in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Wolfe Research reduced their price objective on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $115.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Paychex has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $123.94.

Paychex Stock Performance

NASDAQ PAYX opened at $98.17 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $35.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.26 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $110.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $122.54. Paychex, Inc. has a 1 year low of $94.90 and a 1 year high of $161.24.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its earnings results on Friday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.03. Paychex had a net margin of 26.45% and a return on equity of 46.38%. The business had revenue of $1.56 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.55 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.14 EPS. Paychex’s revenue was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. Paychex has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.480-5.530 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Friday, January 16th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the business services provider to repurchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 28th will be issued a $1.08 dividend. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 28th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 97.96%.

About Paychex

Paychex, Inc, founded in 1971 by B. Thomas “Tom” Golisano and headquartered in Rochester, New York, is a provider of payroll, human resources, and benefits outsourcing solutions for small- and medium-sized businesses. The company’s core services include payroll processing and tax filing, employee benefits administration, retirement services, and workers’ compensation administration, designed to simplify back-office operations and help clients comply with regulatory and tax requirements.

Paychex offers an integrated technology platform, marketed under the Paychex Flex brand, which delivers cloud-based payroll, HR, time and attendance, and reporting tools.