Great Lakes Retirement Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

Great Lakes Retirement Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 3.6% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 15,170 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 528 shares during the period. Great Lakes Retirement Inc.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $2,207,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in Paychex by 26.3% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 5,710 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $801,000 after purchasing an additional 1,190 shares during the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC grew its stake in Paychex by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 4,035 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $566,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Keybank National Association OH grew its stake in Paychex by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 35,232 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,436,000 after purchasing an additional 940 shares during the last quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 24.2% in the 1st quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,421 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $374,000 after buying an additional 472 shares during the period. Finally, Novem Group lifted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 8.4% in the 1st quarter. Novem Group now owns 4,259 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $657,000 after buying an additional 329 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Paychex Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of PAYX opened at $117.03 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.27. Paychex, Inc. has a one year low of $116.08 and a one year high of $161.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.30, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.92. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $129.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $141.30.

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

Paychex Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 26th. Investors of record on Friday, November 7th will be issued a $1.08 dividend. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 97.08%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on PAYX shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised Paychex to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on Paychex from $142.00 to $137.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Paychex from $153.00 to $140.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Weiss Ratings raised Paychex from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Paychex from $153.00 to $148.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $139.87.

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.