NEOS Investment Management LLC Purchases 62,700 Shares of Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

NEOS Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 71.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 150,981 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 62,700 shares during the period. NEOS Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $19,138,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new position in Paychex in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,877,000. Founders Financial Alliance LLC bought a new position in Paychex in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $264,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 17.2% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,765,468 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,787,151,000 after purchasing an additional 5,549,511 shares during the last quarter. MRA Advisory Group increased its stake in shares of Paychex by 7.8% in the third quarter. MRA Advisory Group now owns 2,482 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $315,000 after buying an additional 180 shares during the period. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC lifted its holdings in Paychex by 1.0% in the third quarter. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC now owns 10,333 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,310,000 after buying an additional 106 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on PAYX. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Paychex from $128.00 to $116.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Paychex from $140.00 to $121.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th. Wolfe Research decreased their price target on Paychex from $130.00 to $115.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Paychex from $140.00 to $125.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Paychex from $133.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and four have assigned 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 $123.94.

Paychex Stock Performance

PAYX opened at $93.27 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $107.68 and its 200 day moving average is $119.44. The company has a market cap of $33.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.15 and a beta of 0.90. Paychex, Inc. has a 12-month low of $91.70 and a 12-month 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 1.17.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.26 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.23 by $0.03. Paychex had a return on equity of 46.38% and a net margin of 26.45%.The business had revenue of $1.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.55 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.14 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. Paychex has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.480-5.530 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Friday, January 16th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the business services provider to repurchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 28th will be given a dividend of $1.08 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 28th. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.6%. Paychex’s payout ratio is 97.96%.

Paychex 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.