Paychex, Inc. $PAYX Shares Sold by Bessemer Group Inc.

Bessemer Group Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 49.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,940 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 15,586 shares during the quarter. Bessemer Group Inc.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $1,468,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 59.1% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 30,265,174 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,395,583,000 after acquiring an additional 11,243,295 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Paychex by 12.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,348,625 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,750,669,000 after purchasing an additional 4,583,157 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its position in Paychex by 4,141.2% during the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,409,229 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $270,267,000 after purchasing an additional 2,352,423 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Paychex during the fourth quarter worth approximately $257,699,000. Finally, Voloridge Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Paychex during the third quarter worth approximately $117,809,000. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Paychex

In other news, Director Joseph M. Tucci sold 3,907 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director owned 67,364 shares in the company, valued at $6,618,513. This trade represents a 5.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Paychex from $116.00 to $95.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Paychex from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Paychex to $52.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 26th. Argus raised Paychex to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Paychex from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $107.53.

Paychex Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $110.74 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.65 and a beta of 0.84. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $101.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $98.28. Paychex, Inc. has a twelve month low of $85.45 and a twelve month high of $148.11.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 24th. The business services provider reported $1.32 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 company had revenue of $1.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.60 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.19 earnings per share. The firm’s 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. As a group, equities research analysts expect 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. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 28th will be issued a $1.19 dividend. This represents a $4.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.3%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 28th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 97.34%.

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.