Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT Buys 6,361 Shares of Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT boosted its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 77.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 14,594 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,361 shares during the period. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT’s holdings in Paychex were worth $1,344,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Lombard Odier Asset Management USA Corp purchased a new position in shares of Paychex in the first quarter worth $241,000. Waverly Advisors LLC boosted its position in Paychex by 11.9% during the 1st quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 11,208 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,032,000 after buying an additional 1,189 shares during the period. Asset Management Group Inc. grew its holdings in Paychex by 4.4% in the 1st quarter. Asset Management Group Inc. now owns 8,544 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $787,000 after acquiring an additional 363 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Alliance LLC grew its holdings in Paychex by 56.3% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Alliance LLC now owns 18,021 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,660,000 after acquiring an additional 6,490 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Epoch Investment Partners Inc. increased its position in shares of Paychex by 33.7% in the first quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 516,948 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $47,621,000 after acquiring an additional 130,269 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Joseph M. Tucci sold 3,907 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the director owned 67,364 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,618,513. The trade was a 5.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Paychex Price Performance

PAYX stock opened at $115.48 on Tuesday. Paychex, Inc. has a 1 year low of $85.45 and a 1 year high of $148.11. The company has a market cap of $41.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.62 and a beta of 0.84. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $102.55 and a 200 day moving average of $98.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.26.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 24th. The business services provider reported $1.32 earnings per share 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.60 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.19 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. Paychex has set its FY 2027 guidance at 5.900-6.010 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 5.96 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 28th will be given a dividend of $1.19 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 28th. This represents a $4.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.1%. Paychex’s payout ratio is currently 97.34%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on PAYX. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Paychex from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Weiss Ratings upgraded Paychex from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Monday, July 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating on shares of Paychex in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Paychex from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Paychex from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $107.53.

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.