Western Wealth Management LLC Acquires Shares of 12,749 Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

Western Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 12,749 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,174,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Paychex by 957.1% in the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 296 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares during the period. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Paychex during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Kingdom Financial Group LLC. purchased a new stake in shares of Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Leonteq Securities AG raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 2,669.2% in the 1st quarter. Leonteq Securities AG now owns 360 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 347 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Acumen Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Paychex during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. 83.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on PAYX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Paychex from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Paychex from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Paychex from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “underweight” rating and set a $107.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on Paychex from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. One research 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 issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $108.20.

Paychex Stock Performance

Paychex stock opened at $116.84 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $41.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.89 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.26. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $104.42 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $98.51. Paychex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $85.45 and a fifty-two week high of $146.83.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 24th. The business services provider reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.60 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.19 earnings per share. The business’s 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. As a group, analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 5.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 28th will be paid a dividend of $1.19 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 28th. This represents a $4.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.1%. Paychex’s payout ratio is currently 97.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paychex

In other Paychex news, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 2,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.09, for a total transaction of $299,234.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 18,547 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph M. Tucci sold 3,907 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.25, for a total transaction of $383,862.75. Following the sale, the director owned 67,364 shares in the company, valued at $6,618,513. The trade was a 5.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.