Financial Advocates Investment Management Sells 3,066 Shares of Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

Financial Advocates Investment Management reduced its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 31.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,732 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 3,066 shares during the quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management’s holdings in Paychex were worth $979,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Southeast Asset Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 12.4% in the 2nd quarter. Southeast Asset Advisors LLC now owns 25,704 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,739,000 after purchasing an additional 2,828 shares during the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its position in Paychex by 7.6% during the second quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 44,217 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,432,000 after acquiring an additional 3,138 shares during the last quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Paychex by 11.6% during the 2nd quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 20,984 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,052,000 after acquiring an additional 2,184 shares during the period. Summit Global Investments bought a new position in shares of Paychex in the 2nd quarter worth about $344,000. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 239.8% in the 2nd quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 29,328 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,266,000 after purchasing an additional 20,697 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PAYX opened at $112.11 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $40.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.19, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.93. 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 fifty-two week low of $108.00 and a fifty-two week high of $161.24. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $121.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $137.09.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $1.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.54 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.17% and a net margin of 27.85%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.16 earnings per share. Paychex has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.428-5.528 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Wolfe Research decreased their target price on Paychex from $145.00 to $140.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 26th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Paychex from $140.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. Argus cut their target price on shares of Paychex from $170.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Paychex in a report on Wednesday, November 19th. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of Paychex from $153.00 to $148.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Paychex currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus 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.