Xponance Inc. Lowers Position in Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

Xponance Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 8.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 58,048 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 5,677 shares during the period. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $7,358,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. ABC Arbitrage SA grew its holdings in shares of Paychex by 61.4% during the 3rd quarter. ABC Arbitrage SA now owns 28,208 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,576,000 after purchasing an additional 10,726 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new position in Paychex during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,877,000. Summit Global Investments grew its stake in Paychex by 1,938.2% during the third quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 48,143 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,103,000 after buying an additional 45,781 shares during the period. Alps Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Paychex by 20.6% in the third quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 240,564 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $30,494,000 after acquiring an additional 41,114 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Paychex by 6.0% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,384,846 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $637,820,000 after acquiring an additional 249,550 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on PAYX. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Paychex from $140.00 to $121.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Paychex from $128.00 to $116.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Paychex in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their target price on Paychex from $150.00 to $125.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 5th. Finally, Argus reduced their price target on Paychex from $150.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Paychex currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $123.94.

Paychex Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of Paychex stock opened at $93.65 on Friday. Paychex, Inc. has a 1-year low of $86.89 and a 1-year high of $161.24. The company has a market capitalization of $33.62 billion, a PE ratio of 21.24 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.27. The business has a 50-day moving average of $104.01 and a 200-day moving average of $116.93.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.26 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.23 by $0.03. Paychex had a return on equity of 46.38% and a net margin of 26.45%.The firm had revenue of $1.56 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.55 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.14 earnings per share. Paychex’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. Paychex has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.480-5.530 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 28th were paid a dividend of $1.08 per share. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.6%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, January 28th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is 97.96%.

Paychex declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Friday, January 16th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the business services provider to purchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.