Paychex, Inc. $PAYX is Lafayette Investments Inc.’s 8th Largest Position

Lafayette Investments Inc. increased its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 1.4% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 88,064 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,242 shares during the quarter. Paychex comprises about 2.6% of Lafayette Investments Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 8th largest position. Lafayette Investments Inc.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $12,810,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Alpine Bank Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Paychex in the first quarter valued at approximately $34,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Paychex in the first quarter valued at $34,000. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Paychex during the 1st quarter valued at $34,000. Tsfg LLC increased its stake in Paychex by 122.3% during the 1st quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 229 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 126 shares during the period. Finally, Nova Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Paychex in the 1st quarter worth $38,000. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Paychex Trading Up 0.0%

Paychex stock opened at $126.59 on Tuesday. Paychex, Inc. has a 1 year low of $119.02 and a 1 year high of $161.24. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $132.28 and its 200-day moving average is $142.59. 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 company has a market cap of $45.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.45, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.92.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. Paychex had a net margin of 27.85% and a return on equity of 45.17%. The firm had revenue of $1.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.54 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.16 earnings per share. Paychex’s quarterly revenue was up 16.8% on a year-over-year basis. Paychex has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.428-5.528 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 26th. Investors of record on Friday, November 7th will be given a dividend of $1.08 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 7th. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. Paychex’s payout ratio is currently 97.08%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Paychex from $143.00 to $140.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Paychex from $142.00 to $137.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. UBS Group cut their target price on Paychex from $140.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group set a $130.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Paychex from $158.00 to $148.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $141.36.

Paychex Company Profile

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.