Greenleaf Trust Sells 626 Shares of Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

Greenleaf Trust decreased its position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 8.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,520 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 626 shares during the quarter. Greenleaf Trust’s holdings in Paychex were worth $948,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mattern Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 6.9% during the 2nd quarter. Mattern Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,840 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $413,000 after acquiring an additional 184 shares during the period. Capital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Paychex by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 12,045 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,752,000 after purchasing an additional 398 shares in the last quarter. Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd. lifted its holdings in Paychex by 4.2% during the 2nd quarter. Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd. now owns 15,613 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,271,000 after purchasing an additional 625 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its holdings in Paychex by 17.1% during the 2nd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 258,832 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $37,650,000 after purchasing an additional 37,732 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kelly Financial Services LLC lifted its holdings in Paychex by 13.1% during the 2nd quarter. Kelly Financial Services LLC now owns 1,879 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $273,000 after purchasing an additional 218 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PAYX opened at $124.01 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $44.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. Paychex, Inc. has a 1-year low of $119.02 and a 1-year high of $161.24. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $136.59 and its 200 day moving average is $144.72.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, September 30th. The business services provider reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.54 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.17% and a net margin of 27.85%.Paychex’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.16 EPS. Paychex has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.428-5.528 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Monday, July 21st were issued a dividend of $1.08 per share. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 21st. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 94.53%.

Insider Transactions at Paychex

In related news, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 97,526 shares of the firm’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 directly owned 446,917 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $64,878,940.89. This trade represents a 17.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,370 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.92, for a total value of $1,755,550.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Paychex from $148.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Barclays set a $155.00 price objective on Paychex and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on Paychex from $140.00 to $126.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $165.00 price objective on Paychex and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Paychex from $148.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $142.83.

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.