Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Has $262.44 Million Stake in Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. raised its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 2.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,804,182 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 48,740 shares during the quarter. Paychex makes up approximately 1.3% of Bahl & Gaynor Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest position. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. owned 0.50% of Paychex worth $262,436,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Select Equity Group L.P. boosted its position in Paychex by 99.0% in the first quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 3,494,312 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $539,102,000 after buying an additional 1,738,372 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex during the 1st quarter valued at $134,192,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Paychex by 7.3% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,782,173 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,663,474,000 after acquiring an additional 737,542 shares during the last quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC increased its holdings in Paychex by 117.6% in the 1st quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 1,217,092 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $187,512,000 after purchasing an additional 657,871 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in Paychex by 25.7% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,844,949 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $438,919,000 after purchasing an additional 581,410 shares during the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of PAYX opened at $111.46 on Friday. 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 firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $122.06 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $137.82. Paychex, Inc. has a 12 month low of $108.00 and a 12 month high of $161.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.93.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.02. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.17% and a net margin of 27.85%.The company had revenue of $1.54 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.54 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.16 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Paychex has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.428-5.528 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 7th will be issued a dividend of $1.08 per share. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 97.08%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PAYX has been the topic of several research reports. TD Cowen reduced their price target on Paychex from $140.00 to $126.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Stephens raised shares of Paychex to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. 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. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Paychex in a report on Wednesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Paychex from $153.00 to $140.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company 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 data from MarketBeat.com, Paychex presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $139.87.

Paychex Company 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.