Clifford Group LLC Trims Stock Position in Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

Clifford Group LLC lowered its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 20.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,684 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 953 shares during the period. Clifford Group LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $568,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of PAYX. Summit Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in Paychex by 2.4% in the first quarter. Summit Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,027 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $467,000 after buying an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. LGT Group Foundation increased its holdings in Paychex by 2.8% in the first quarter. LGT Group Foundation now owns 2,528 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $390,000 after buying an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Equity Partners increased its holdings in Paychex by 0.9% in the first quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 7,623 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,176,000 after buying an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Paychex by 2.4% in the first quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,192 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $492,000 after buying an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Finally, King Wealth Management Group increased its holdings in Paychex by 4.7% in the first quarter. King Wealth Management Group now owns 1,669 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $257,000 after buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PAYX has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays set a $155.00 price objective on shares of Paychex and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Paychex from $158.00 to $148.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Paychex from $150.00 to $148.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 27th. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of Paychex in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $160.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $165.00 target price on shares of Paychex and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $149.70.

Insider Transactions at Paychex

In related news, CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,370 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 81,755 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,602,669.60. The trade was a 13.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 97,526 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 10th. The stock was 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 $64,878,940.89. The trade was a 17.91% 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.

Paychex Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ PAYX opened at $135.63 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $141.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $147.24. Paychex, Inc. has a 52-week low of $128.92 and a 52-week high of $161.24. The firm has a market cap of $48.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a quick ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, June 25th. The business services provider reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.19. The business had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.38 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 29.75% and a return on equity of 45.01%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.12 earnings per share. Paychex has set its FY 2026 guidance at EPS. Equities analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

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

Paychex Company Profile

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.