Live Oak Investment Partners Purchases New Position in Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

Live Oak Investment Partners acquired a new position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 4,824 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $556,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Paychex during the second quarter worth $302,244,000. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its holdings in Paychex by 179.5% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,078,328 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $156,854,000 after buying an additional 692,533 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Paychex by 29.2% in the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,542,901 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $369,901,000 after buying an additional 574,337 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in Paychex by 209.1% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 838,679 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $106,311,000 after buying an additional 567,352 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Select Equity Group L.P. grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 15.9% during the second quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 4,051,413 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $589,319,000 after acquiring an additional 557,101 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PAYX opened at $110.51 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $112.27 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $126.74. Paychex, Inc. has a 52-week low of $107.80 and a 52-week high of $161.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.06 and a beta of 0.91.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.23 by $0.03. Paychex had a return on equity of 46.38% and a net margin of 26.45%.The business had revenue of $1.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.55 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.14 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. Paychex has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.480-5.530 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on PAYX shares. Wolfe Research cut their price target on Paychex from $130.00 to $115.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $110.00 target price on Paychex in a research report on Friday, December 19th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on Paychex from $140.00 to $121.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. UBS Group dropped their price target 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. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Paychex in a research note on Monday, December 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $125.67.

Paychex Company Profile

Paychex, Inc, founded in 1971 by B. Thomas “Tom” Golisano and headquartered in Rochester, New York, is a provider of payroll, human resources, and benefits outsourcing solutions for small- and medium-sized businesses. The company’s core services include payroll processing and tax filing, employee benefits administration, retirement services, and workers’ compensation administration, designed to simplify back-office operations and help clients comply with regulatory and tax requirements.

Paychex offers an integrated technology platform, marketed under the Paychex Flex brand, which delivers cloud-based payroll, HR, time and attendance, and reporting tools.