Paychex, Inc. $PAYX Shares Bought by Vanguard Group Inc.

Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 17.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 37,765,468 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,549,511 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 10.49% of Paychex worth $4,787,151,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of PAYX. Heartwood Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Paychex during the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. NewSquare Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Paychex by 83.8% during the 2nd quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 215 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. MMA Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Paychex in the 3rd quarter worth $32,000. Westfuller Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Paychex in the third quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC grew its position in Paychex by 40.6% during the second quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC now owns 263 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PAYX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group set a $110.00 price target on Paychex in a report on Friday, December 19th. Argus dropped their target price on Paychex from $150.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 2nd. Wolfe Research reduced their price target on Paychex from $130.00 to $115.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Paychex from $140.00 to $125.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Paychex from $133.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $123.94.

Paychex Trading Down 1.2%

NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $93.27 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.15 and a beta of 0.90. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $107.68 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $119.44. 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 $91.70 and a 1-year high of $161.24.

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

Paychex Announces Dividend

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

Paychex declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Friday, January 16th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the business services provider to purchase up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Paychex Company 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.