Shoker Investment Counsel Inc. Sells 731 Shares of Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

Shoker Investment Counsel Inc. reduced its position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 3.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 23,544 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 731 shares during the period. Paychex accounts for approximately 1.1% of Shoker Investment Counsel Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest position. Shoker Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $3,425,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in shares of Paychex by 26.3% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 5,710 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $801,000 after buying an additional 1,190 shares during the period. Bison Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Paychex by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 4,035 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $566,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Formidable Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Paychex in the first quarter valued at $225,000. AMG National Trust Bank purchased a new stake in Paychex in the first quarter worth $214,000. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc lifted its position in Paychex by 10.3% during the first quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 7,023 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,090,000 after buying an additional 658 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PAYX has been the subject of several research reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Paychex in a report on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Paychex from $142.00 to $137.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Paychex from $143.00 to $140.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Wells Fargo & Company raised Paychex to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, Argus decreased their price target on shares of Paychex from $170.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Paychex currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $139.87.

Paychex Stock Down 1.4%

Shares of NASDAQ PAYX opened at $110.48 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $39.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.83, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.93. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $124.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $138.78. Paychex, Inc. has a 1 year low of $109.99 and a 1 year 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, September 30th. The business services provider reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.54 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.17% and a net margin of 27.85%.Paychex’s quarterly revenue was up 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.16 EPS. Paychex has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.428-5.528 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 7th will be issued a $1.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 7th. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.9%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.