Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Takes $825,000 Position in Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. purchased a new stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 8,389 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $825,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC increased its position in shares of Paychex by 957.1% in the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 296 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares during the last quarter. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Paychex in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Kingdom Financial Group LLC. purchased a new stake in Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Leonteq Securities AG raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 2,669.2% in the first quarter. Leonteq Securities AG now owns 360 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 347 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Acumen Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PAYX has been the subject of several analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating on shares of Paychex in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Paychex from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Paychex from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $107.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Paychex from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $109.20.

Paychex Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of PAYX opened at $124.99 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $44.46 billion, a PE ratio of 25.56 and a beta of 0.81. Paychex, Inc. has a 12 month low of $85.45 and a 12 month high of $139.53. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $112.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $100.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.26.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 24th. The business services provider reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.31 by $0.01. Paychex had a net margin of 27.03% and a return on equity of 50.90%. The company had revenue of $1.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.60 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.19 earnings per share. Paychex’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. Paychex has set its FY 2027 guidance at 5.900-6.010 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 5.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 28th will be issued a dividend of $1.19 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 28th. This represents a $4.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. Paychex’s payout ratio is currently 97.34%.

Insider Activity at Paychex

In other news, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 2,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.09, for a total transaction of $299,234.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 18,547 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,134,574.23. This trade represents a 12.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph M. Tucci sold 3,907 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction on Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.25, for a total transaction of $383,862.75. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 67,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,618,513. This trade represents a 5.48% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.