Paychex, Inc. $PAYX Shares Sold by Stephens Inc. AR

Stephens Inc. AR lowered its position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 31.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 35,928 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 16,717 shares during the period. Stephens Inc. AR’s holdings in Paychex were worth $5,226,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PAYX. Summit Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 2.4% in the first quarter. Summit Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,027 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $467,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. LGT Group Foundation lifted its position 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 acquiring an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Equity Partners lifted its position 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 acquiring an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. King Wealth Management Group grew its holdings in shares of Paychex by 4.7% during the first quarter. King Wealth Management Group now owns 1,669 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $257,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sunflower Bank N.A. grew its holdings in shares of Paychex by 3.4% during the second quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. now owns 2,305 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $335,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Stock Up 0.8%

PAYX stock opened at $127.54 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $132.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $142.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.90 billion, a PE ratio of 28.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.92. Paychex, Inc. has a 12 month low of $119.02 and a 12 month high of $161.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.27.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, September 30th. The business services provider reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.54 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 27.85% and a return on equity of 45.17%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.16 earnings per share. Paychex has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.428-5.528 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 26th. Investors of record on Friday, November 7th will be paid a dividend of $1.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 7th. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 97.08%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on PAYX. Stephens upgraded shares of Paychex to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Paychex from $140.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Paychex from $142.00 to $137.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of Paychex from $140.00 to $126.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered their target price on shares of Paychex from $145.00 to $140.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $140.47.

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.