Groupe la Francaise Boosts Position in Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

Groupe la Francaise lifted its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 19.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 30,886 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,964 shares during the period. Groupe la Francaise’s holdings in Paychex were worth $4,473,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Paychex in the 2nd quarter valued at $302,244,000. Select Equity Group L.P. increased its stake in Paychex by 99.0% in the 1st 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 during the period. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Paychex during the 1st quarter worth $134,192,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Paychex by 7.3% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,782,173 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,663,474,000 after purchasing an additional 737,542 shares during the period. Finally, Neuberger Berman Group LLC boosted 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 valued at $187,512,000 after purchasing an additional 657,871 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PAYX opened at $113.39 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. Paychex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $108.00 and a fifty-two week high of $161.24. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $118.99 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $135.46. The firm has a market cap of $40.81 billion, a PE ratio of 25.48 and a beta of 0.91.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, September 30th. The business services provider reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.02. The business 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 business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.16 EPS. Paychex has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.428-5.528 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 7th were issued a $1.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 7th. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.8%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 97.08%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on PAYX. Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Paychex in a research note on Monday. 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 for the company in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Paychex in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $139.00 price objective for the company. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Paychex from $143.00 to $140.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $139.07.

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.