GAMMA Investing LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 91.2% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 28,090 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 13,399 shares during the quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $2,762,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of PAYX. 44 Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Paychex by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. 44 Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,290 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $479,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 3.5% in the second quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,645 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $381,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 5,834 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $654,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 1.4% during the third quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC now owns 7,270 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $922,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 14.5% during the fourth quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 798 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $90,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Paychex from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating on shares of Paychex in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $107.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research note on Monday, July 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Paychex from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price target on Paychex from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $108.20.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of PAYX opened at $118.27 on Thursday. Paychex, Inc. has a 1 year low of $85.45 and a 1 year high of $141.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.26. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $105.79 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $98.68. The firm has a market cap of $42.07 billion, a PE ratio of 24.19 and a beta of 0.81.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 24th. The business services provider reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.31 by $0.01. Paychex had a return on equity of 50.90% and a net margin of 27.03%.The company had revenue of $1.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.60 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.19 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Paychex has set its FY 2027 guidance at 5.900-6.010 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 5.96 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 28th will be paid a dividend of $1.19 per share. This represents a $4.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 28th. Paychex’s payout ratio is presently 97.34%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 2,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.09, for a total transaction of $299,234.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 18,547 shares in the company, valued at $2,134,574.23. This represents a 12.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Joseph M. Tucci sold 3,907 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.25, for a total transaction of $383,862.75. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 67,364 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,618,513. The trade was a 5.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Profile

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.