Paychex, Inc. $PAYX Holdings Cut by United Asset Strategies Inc.

United Asset Strategies Inc. reduced its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 5.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,658 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,017 shares during the period. United Asset Strategies Inc.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $2,570,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in PAYX. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in Paychex by 26.3% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 5,710 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $801,000 after buying an additional 1,190 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new position in shares of Paychex during the fourth quarter valued at $227,000. Natixis acquired a new position in shares of Paychex during the fourth quarter valued at $538,000. Transce3nd LLC bought a new position in shares of Paychex during the fourth quarter worth about $44,000. Finally, TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. grew its position in shares of Paychex by 8.2% during the fourth quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 4,856 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $681,000 after acquiring an additional 368 shares during the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on PAYX shares. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Paychex from $156.00 to $152.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of Paychex in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $160.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group cut their price target on Paychex from $155.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Citigroup set a $158.00 price objective on Paychex and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $165.00 target price on Paychex and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $150.70.

Insider Activity at Paychex

In other Paychex news, CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,370 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.92, for a total transaction of $1,755,550.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 81,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,602,669.60. This trade represents a 13.14% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 97,526 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.17, for a total transaction of $14,157,849.42. Following the transaction, the chairman owned 446,917 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,878,940.89. This represents a 17.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 11.40% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PAYX opened at $138.88 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $144.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $147.91. The company has a quick ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $50.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.39, a PEG ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.91. Paychex, Inc. has a 52-week low of $125.45 and a 52-week high of $161.24.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 25th. The business services provider reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19. Paychex had a net margin of 29.75% and a return on equity of 45.01%. The company had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.38 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.12 earnings per share. Paychex has set its FY 2026 guidance at EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 21st will be paid a dividend of $1.08 per share. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 21st. Paychex’s payout ratio is 94.53%.

About Paychex

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.