Bank of New York Mellon Corp Sells 31,254 Shares of Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

Bank of New York Mellon Corp lessened its position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 1.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,007,580 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 31,254 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned about 0.56% of Paychex worth $184,938,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in PAYX. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 957.1% in the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 296 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares during the last quarter. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Paychex during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Kingdom Financial Group LLC. acquired a new position in Paychex in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Leonteq Securities AG lifted its holdings in Paychex by 2,669.2% in the first quarter. Leonteq Securities AG now owns 360 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 347 shares during the period. Finally, Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new position in Paychex in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PAYX has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Stephens lowered their target price on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $105.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 26th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Paychex from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Argus upgraded Paychex to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Paychex in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Paychex from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Paychex presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $105.80.

Paychex Trading Down 0.3%

NASDAQ PAYX opened at $114.39 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $40.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.39 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.26. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $100.05 and its 200-day moving average is $98.39. Paychex, Inc. has a one year low of $85.45 and a one year high of $148.11.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 24th. The business services provider reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.31 by $0.01. Paychex had a return on equity of 50.90% and a net margin of 27.03%.The business had revenue of $1.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.60 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.19 EPS. Paychex’s quarterly revenue was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Paychex has set its FY 2027 guidance at 5.900-6.010 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 5.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 28th will be issued a $1.19 dividend. This represents a $4.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 28th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is 97.34%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Joseph M. Tucci sold 3,907 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.25, for a total transaction of $383,862.75. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 67,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,618,513. This represents a 5.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.