Paychex, Inc. $PAYX Shares Purchased by Barclays PLC

Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 38.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,856,157 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 511,728 shares during the quarter. Barclays PLC owned about 0.52% of Paychex worth $235,286,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. ABC Arbitrage SA boosted its stake in Paychex by 61.4% during the 3rd quarter. ABC Arbitrage SA now owns 28,208 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,576,000 after purchasing an additional 10,726 shares in the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new stake in shares of Paychex in the 3rd quarter worth $1,877,000. Summit Global Investments lifted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 1,938.2% in the third quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 48,143 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,103,000 after buying an additional 45,781 shares during the period. Alps Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Paychex by 20.6% during the third quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 240,564 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $30,494,000 after buying an additional 41,114 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Paychex by 6.0% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,384,846 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $637,820,000 after buying an additional 249,550 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PAYX has been the topic of several research reports. Stephens dropped their price target on shares of Paychex from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Paychex from $139.00 to $120.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Paychex from $140.00 to $121.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th. Morgan Stanley dropped 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. Finally, TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating on shares of Paychex in a report on Monday, December 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $123.94.

Paychex Price Performance

NASDAQ PAYX opened at $100.85 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. Paychex, Inc. has a 1 year low of $86.89 and a 1 year high of $161.24. The company has a market cap of $36.20 billion, a PE ratio of 22.87 and a beta of 0.91. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $102.25 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $115.65.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its earnings results on Friday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.26 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.55 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 26.45% and a return on equity of 46.38%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.14 earnings per share. Paychex has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.480-5.530 EPS. On average, 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 was paid on Friday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 28th were issued a dividend of $1.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, January 28th. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.3%. Paychex’s payout ratio is currently 97.96%.

Paychex declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Friday, January 16th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the business services provider to reacquire up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

About Paychex

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.