Paychex, Inc. $PAYX Holdings Decreased by AE Wealth Management LLC

AE Wealth Management LLC lowered its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 22.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,771 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,097 shares during the quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $548,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Metis Global Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 4.2% in the 2nd quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 18,237 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,653,000 after acquiring an additional 731 shares during the period. Wedbush Securities Inc. raised its holdings in Paychex by 6.9% during the second quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 13,372 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,945,000 after purchasing an additional 861 shares in the last quarter. Atlas Legacy Advisors LLC lifted its position in Paychex by 13.7% in the second quarter. Atlas Legacy Advisors LLC now owns 4,357 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $634,000 after purchasing an additional 524 shares during the period. Savant Capital LLC boosted its stake in Paychex by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 10,054 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,462,000 after purchasing an additional 314 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Twin Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Paychex by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Twin Capital Management Inc. now owns 31,101 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,524,000 after purchasing an additional 223 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of PAYX stock opened at $112.10 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $40.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.93. Paychex, Inc. has a 1-year low of $109.99 and a 1-year high of $161.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $124.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $139.14.

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 return on equity of 45.17% and a net margin of 27.85%.The firm had revenue of $1.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.54 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.16 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.8% on a year-over-year basis. Paychex has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.428-5.528 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 26th. Investors of record on Friday, November 7th will be issued a dividend of $1.08 per share. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 97.08%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Stephens upgraded Paychex to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Argus cut their price target on shares of Paychex from $170.00 to $150.00 in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group set a $130.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Paychex from $140.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price 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. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $139.87.

Paychex Profile

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.