EP Wealth Advisors LLC Increases Holdings in Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

EP Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 10.3% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 38,265 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,566 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $5,904,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of PAYX. Alpine Bank Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Paychex during the 1st quarter worth approximately $34,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Paychex during the 1st quarter worth approximately $34,000. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Paychex during the 1st quarter worth approximately $34,000. Tsfg LLC boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 122.3% during the 1st quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 229 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HWG Holdings LP purchased a new stake in shares of Paychex during the 1st quarter worth approximately $46,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on PAYX. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $165.00 price target on Paychex and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Barclays set a $155.00 target price on Paychex and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on Paychex in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $160.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Paychex from $148.00 to $153.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on Paychex from $158.00 to $148.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $149.70.

Paychex Trading Down 2.5%

Shares of PAYX opened at $135.96 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $141.91 and a two-hundred day moving average of $147.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a current ratio of 1.28. The company has a market capitalization of $48.98 billion, a PE ratio of 29.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.91. Paychex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $128.92 and a fifty-two week high of $161.24.

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

Paychex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 21st were issued a $1.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 21st. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. Paychex’s payout ratio is 94.53%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paychex

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

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.