Paychex, Inc. $PAYX Shares Bought by Ceera Investments LLC

Ceera Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 66.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 32,347 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,887 shares during the quarter. Paychex makes up about 1.3% of Ceera Investments LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Ceera Investments LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $2,980,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC boosted its stake in Paychex by 957.1% in the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 296 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 268 shares during the last quarter. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Paychex during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Kingdom Financial Group LLC. purchased a new position in shares of Paychex during the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Leonteq Securities AG boosted its position in shares of Paychex by 2,669.2% in the first quarter. Leonteq Securities AG now owns 360 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 347 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Board of the Pension Protection Fund purchased a new stake in Paychex in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of PAYX stock opened at $114.39 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $40.98 billion, a PE ratio of 23.39 and a beta of 0.84. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $100.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $98.39. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22. Paychex, Inc. has a twelve month low of $85.45 and a twelve month high of $148.11.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 24th. The business services provider reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.31 by $0.01. Paychex had a net margin of 27.03% and a return on equity of 50.90%. The business had revenue of $1.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.60 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.19 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. Paychex has set its FY 2027 guidance at 5.900-6.010 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 5.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 28th will be given a dividend of $1.19 per share. This represents a $4.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 28th. Paychex’s payout ratio is presently 97.34%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Joseph M. Tucci sold 3,907 shares of Paychex 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 sale, the director directly owned 67,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,618,513. The trade was a 5.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Stephens dropped their price target on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $105.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. Citigroup raised shares of Paychex from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $99.00 to $140.00 in a research note on Monday, June 15th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Paychex from $116.00 to $95.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 26th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Paychex from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Paychex from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $105.80.

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.