Paychex, Inc. $PAYX Position Boosted by Strong Tower Advisory Services

Strong Tower Advisory Services raised its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 5.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 16,608 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 828 shares during the quarter. Strong Tower Advisory Services’ holdings in Paychex were worth $2,416,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Paychex by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,807,843 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,907,314,000 after acquiring an additional 286,818 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Paychex by 7.3% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,782,173 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,663,474,000 after acquiring an additional 737,542 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Paychex by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,989,182 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $769,731,000 after acquiring an additional 181,628 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Paychex by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,135,296 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $637,993,000 after acquiring an additional 30,670 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Select Equity Group L.P. grew its stake in Paychex by 99.0% during the 1st quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 3,494,312 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $539,102,000 after acquiring an additional 1,738,372 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Paychex

In other news, CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,370 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.92, for a total transaction of $1,755,550.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 81,755 shares in the company, valued at $11,602,669.60. The trade was a 13.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on PAYX. UBS Group lowered their price target on Paychex from $140.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Paychex from $148.00 to $132.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Paychex from $153.00 to $140.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Stephens raised Paychex to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Paychex from $142.00 to $137.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $141.29.

Paychex Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of Paychex stock opened at $125.55 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.21, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $133.78 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $143.73. Paychex, Inc. has a 12-month low of $119.02 and a 12-month 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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.54 billion during 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 company’s revenue was up 16.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.16 earnings per share. Paychex has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.428-5.528 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

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 given a dividend of $1.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 7th. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.