SouthState Corp Buys 886 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

SouthState Corp increased its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 10.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,236 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 886 shares during the quarter. SouthState Corp’s holdings in Paychex were worth $1,425,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 118.5% in the 1st quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 136,876 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $21,117,000 after purchasing an additional 74,245 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in Paychex by 32.6% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 119,291 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $18,404,000 after buying an additional 29,320 shares in the last quarter. MWA Asset Management grew its stake in Paychex by 6.5% in the 1st quarter. MWA Asset Management now owns 4,269 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $659,000 after buying an additional 262 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Paychex by 15.1% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,419 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $990,000 after buying an additional 843 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Paychex by 7.1% in the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,607 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,174,000 after buying an additional 502 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Stock Up 0.5%

PAYX opened at $141.19 on Monday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $147.42 and a 200-day moving average price of $148.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.28. Paychex, Inc. has a one year low of $123.00 and a one year high of $161.24.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, June 25th. The business services provider reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.19. Paychex had a net margin of 29.75% and a return on equity of 45.01%. The company had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.38 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.12 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Monday, July 21st will be given a $1.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 21st. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. Paychex’s payout ratio is 94.53%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PAYX has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Paychex from $150.00 to $148.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 27th. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of Paychex in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $160.00 price objective for the company. Barclays set a $155.00 price objective on shares of Paychex and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $140.00 to $148.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, Citigroup set a $158.00 price objective on shares of Paychex and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Paychex has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $150.20.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paychex

In related news, CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,370 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.92, for a total value of $1,755,550.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 81,755 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,602,669.60. The trade was a 13.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 97,526 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.17, for a total transaction of $14,157,849.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman owned 446,917 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $64,878,940.89. This trade represents a 17.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 11.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Paychex Company Profile

Paychex, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides integrated human capital management solutions (HCM) for payroll, benefits, human resources (HR), and insurance services for small to medium-sized businesses in the United States, Europe, and India. It offers payroll processing services; payroll tax administration services; employee payment services; and regulatory compliance services, such as new-hire reporting and garnishment processing.