Wedbush Securities Inc. Buys 861 Shares of Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

Wedbush Securities Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 6.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 13,372 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 861 shares during the period. Wedbush Securities Inc.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $1,945,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Select Equity Group L.P. grew its position in shares of Paychex by 99.0% during the first quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 3,494,312 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $539,102,000 after purchasing an additional 1,738,372 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Paychex during the first quarter valued at approximately $134,192,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Paychex by 7.3% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,782,173 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,663,474,000 after buying an additional 737,542 shares in the last quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC increased its stake in Paychex by 117.6% in the 1st quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 1,217,092 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $187,512,000 after acquiring an additional 657,871 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 25.7% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,844,949 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $438,919,000 after acquiring an additional 581,410 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on PAYX shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Paychex to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Paychex from $153.00 to $140.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Stephens upgraded shares of Paychex to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. TD Cowen lowered their price target on shares of Paychex from $140.00 to $126.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Paychex from $132.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Paychex presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $139.87.

Paychex Price Performance

PAYX stock opened at $111.96 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $40.29 billion, a PE ratio of 25.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.93. Paychex, Inc. has a 12 month low of $110.70 and a 12 month high of $161.24. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $127.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $140.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15.

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

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 7th will be given a $1.08 dividend. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is 97.08%.

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.