Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC Has $20.16 Million Holdings in Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC cut its holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 0.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 138,572 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 275 shares during the period. Paychex comprises approximately 2.0% of Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $20,157,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 118.5% in the first quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 136,876 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $21,117,000 after purchasing an additional 74,245 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 32.6% in the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 119,291 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $18,404,000 after buying an additional 29,320 shares in the last quarter. Martin Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 166.9% in the second quarter. Martin Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,340 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $922,000 after buying an additional 3,965 shares in the last quarter. MWA Asset Management grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 6.5% in the first quarter. MWA Asset Management now owns 4,269 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $659,000 after buying an additional 262 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new position in shares of Paychex in the first quarter valued at $832,000. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 97,526 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.17, for a total transaction of $14,157,849.42. Following the sale, the chairman directly owned 446,917 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,878,940.89. The trade was a 17.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,370 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.92, for a total value of $1,755,550.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 81,755 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,602,669.60. This trade represents a 13.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on PAYX. Wolfe Research reduced their price objective on shares of Paychex from $145.00 to $140.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Barclays set a $155.00 price objective on shares of Paychex and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Paychex from $142.00 to $137.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Paychex from $148.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $148.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $142.83.

Paychex Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of NASDAQ PAYX opened at $123.42 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $44.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.73, a PEG ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $136.13 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $144.55. Paychex, Inc. has a 12 month low of $119.02 and a 12 month high of $161.24.

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

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 21st were issued a dividend of $1.08 per share. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 21st. Paychex’s payout ratio is 97.08%.

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.