Dimensional Fund Advisors LP reduced its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX – Free Report) by 2.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,822,569 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 59,646 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP’s holdings in Paychex were worth $260,042,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PAYX. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in Paychex by 26.3% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 5,710 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $801,000 after acquiring an additional 1,190 shares during the period. Bison Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Paychex by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 4,035 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $566,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP bought a new position in shares of Paychex during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $3,333,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Paychex by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 41,081 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,976,000 after acquiring an additional 1,290 shares during the period. Finally, Sei Investments Co. increased its stake in shares of Paychex by 47.1% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 156,680 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $22,790,000 after purchasing an additional 50,169 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
A number of research firms recently commented on PAYX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Paychex from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Paychex from $148.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 26th. Argus raised Paychex to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Weiss Ratings raised Paychex from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on Paychex from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Paychex has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $107.53.
Paychex Price Performance
PAYX opened at $110.74 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $39.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.65 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $101.26 and a 200-day moving average price of $98.28. Paychex, Inc. has a twelve month low of $85.45 and a twelve month high of $148.11.
Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 24th. The business services provider reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.31 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.60 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 27.03% and a return on equity of 50.90%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.19 earnings per share. Paychex has set its FY 2027 guidance at 5.900-6.010 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 5.96 EPS for the current year.
Paychex Announces Dividend
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 28th will be issued a dividend of $1.19 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 28th. This represents a $4.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.3%. Paychex’s payout ratio is presently 97.34%.
Insider Activity
In other Paychex news, Director Joseph M. Tucci sold 3,907 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.25, for a total transaction of $383,862.75. Following the sale, the director owned 67,364 shares in the company, valued at $6,618,513. This represents a 5.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.
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.
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