Paychex, Inc. $PAYX Holdings Raised by Cetera Investment Advisers

Cetera Investment Advisers increased its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 38.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 269,833 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 74,805 shares during the quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers owned about 0.08% of Paychex worth $24,857,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 957.1% in the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 296 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 268 shares in the last quarter. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Paychex during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Kingdom Financial Group LLC. bought a new stake in Paychex during the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. Leonteq Securities AG lifted its position in Paychex by 2,669.2% in the first quarter. Leonteq Securities AG now owns 360 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 347 shares during the period. Finally, Acumen Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Paychex in the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $113.55 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.22 and a beta of 0.84. Paychex, Inc. has a 1-year low of $85.45 and a 1-year high of $148.11. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $102.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $98.32.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $1.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.60 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 50.90% and a net margin of 27.03%.The firm’s revenue was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.19 earnings per share. Paychex has set its FY 2027 guidance at 5.900-6.010 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 5.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Paychex

In other news, Director Joseph M. Tucci sold 3,907 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.25, for a total transaction of $383,862.75. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PAYX has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Paychex from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Paychex from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. Weiss Ratings raised Paychex from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Monday, July 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Paychex from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $107.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a report on Monday, July 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $107.53.

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.