Caldwell Trust Co Makes New $3.47 Million Investment in Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

Caldwell Trust Co bought a new stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 23,827 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,466,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of PAYX. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in Paychex by 26.3% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 5,710 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $801,000 after buying an additional 1,190 shares during the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Paychex by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 4,035 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $566,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 45,400 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,004,000 after acquiring an additional 239 shares during the last quarter. Horizon Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Paychex by 3.7% during the 1st quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 6,337 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $971,000 after purchasing an additional 227 shares during the period. Finally, Aberdeen Group plc increased its holdings in Paychex by 109.2% in the 1st quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 230,256 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $35,030,000 after purchasing an additional 120,216 shares during the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on PAYX. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on Paychex from $153.00 to $148.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Paychex in a report on Monday, December 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Paychex from $128.00 to $116.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Paychex from $153.00 to $140.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, Citigroup started coverage on shares of Paychex in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $139.00 price target on the stock. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Paychex presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $131.87.

Paychex Stock Up 0.7%

PAYX stock opened at $115.45 on Monday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $117.18 and its 200 day moving average price is $133.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.94 and a beta of 0.91. Paychex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $108.00 and a fifty-two week high of $161.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.27.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, September 30th. The business services provider reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.02. Paychex had a net margin of 27.85% and a return on equity of 45.17%. The company had revenue of $1.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.54 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.16 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue 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, equities research analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 26th. Investors of record on Friday, November 7th were issued a $1.08 dividend. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is 97.08%.

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.