Strs Ohio Makes New Investment in Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

Strs Ohio bought a new stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 7,713 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,122,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PAYX. Summit Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Paychex by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Summit Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,027 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $467,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. LGT Group Foundation raised its position in shares of Paychex by 2.8% in the first quarter. LGT Group Foundation now owns 2,528 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $390,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 1.0% in the second quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,954 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,012,000 after buying an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. King Wealth Management Group boosted its position in Paychex by 4.7% during the first quarter. King Wealth Management Group now owns 1,669 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $257,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sunflower Bank N.A. grew its stake in Paychex by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. now owns 2,305 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $335,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Paychex Trading Down 3.2%

Shares of Paychex stock opened at $112.82 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $127.60 and a 200 day moving average of $140.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.35, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.93. Paychex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $112.07 and a fifty-two week high of $161.24.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, September 30th. The business services provider reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.54 billion for 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.16 earnings per share. Paychex has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.428-5.528 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 7th will be paid a dividend of $1.08 per share. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 97.08%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Paychex from $132.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Paychex to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Wolfe Research reduced their price objective on Paychex from $145.00 to $140.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Paychex from $153.00 to $140.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, Argus cut their target price on Paychex from $170.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Paychex has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $139.87.

About Paychex

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.