Modern Wealth Management LLC Increases Stock Position in Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

Modern Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 28.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,814 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,079 shares during the period. Modern Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $2,131,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its holdings in Paychex by 118.5% in the 1st quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 136,876 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $21,117,000 after acquiring an additional 74,245 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its position in Paychex by 32.6% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 119,291 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $18,404,000 after purchasing an additional 29,320 shares during the period. MWA Asset Management grew its position in Paychex by 6.5% in the 1st quarter. MWA Asset Management now owns 4,269 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $659,000 after purchasing an additional 262 shares during the period. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Paychex by 15.1% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,419 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $990,000 after purchasing an additional 843 shares during the period. Finally, Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Paychex by 7.1% in the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,607 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,174,000 after purchasing an additional 502 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PAYX has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Paychex from $148.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of Paychex in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $160.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Paychex from $155.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Paychex from $158.00 to $148.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Paychex from $150.00 to $148.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $149.70.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,370 shares of the company’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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 81,755 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,602,669.60. This represents a 13.14% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 97,526 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chairman owned 446,917 shares in the company, valued at $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. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Paychex Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of PAYX stock opened at $135.11 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $48.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.56, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.91. Paychex, Inc. has a 52 week low of $131.83 and a 52 week high of $161.24. 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 company’s fifty day simple moving average is $140.44 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $146.55.

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

Paychex Announces Dividend

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

Paychex 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.