Blair William & Co. IL Sells 6,429 Shares of Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

Blair William & Co. IL lessened its position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 4.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 155,435 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 6,429 shares during the quarter. Blair William & Co. IL’s holdings in Paychex were worth $19,703,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PAYX. ABC Arbitrage SA grew its holdings in Paychex by 61.4% during the 3rd quarter. ABC Arbitrage SA now owns 28,208 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,576,000 after acquiring an additional 10,726 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new position in shares of Paychex in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,877,000. Summit Global Investments boosted its position in shares of Paychex by 1,938.2% during the 3rd quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 48,143 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,103,000 after purchasing an additional 45,781 shares in the last quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Paychex by 20.6% during the 3rd quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 240,564 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $30,494,000 after purchasing an additional 41,114 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew 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 worth $637,820,000 after purchasing an additional 249,550 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on PAYX shares. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Paychex from $133.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group set a $110.00 price target on Paychex in a report on Friday, December 19th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Paychex from $137.00 to $126.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Paychex in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Paychex from $150.00 to $125.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $123.94.

Paychex Stock Performance

NASDAQ PAYX opened at $100.85 on Monday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $102.25 and a 200 day simple moving average of $115.32. Paychex, Inc. has a 12-month low of $86.89 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. The company has a market cap of $36.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.87 and a beta of 0.91.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced 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 net margin of 26.45% and a return on equity of 46.38%. The business had revenue of $1.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.55 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.14 EPS. Paychex’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. Sell-side analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 28th were given a dividend of $1.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, January 28th. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.3%. Paychex’s payout ratio is presently 97.96%.

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

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.