Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Decreases Holdings in Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System trimmed its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 43,200 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 300 shares during the quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Paychex were worth $6,284,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Alpine Bank Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Paychex during the 1st quarter valued at about $34,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Paychex in the 1st quarter worth about $34,000. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in Paychex in the 1st quarter worth about $34,000. Tsfg LLC raised its position in Paychex by 122.3% in the 1st quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 229 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares during the period. Finally, Nova Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Paychex in the 1st quarter worth about $38,000. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of PAYX stock opened at $126.59 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.27. The company has a market capitalization of $45.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.92. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $134.43 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $143.99. Paychex, Inc. has a one year low of $119.02 and a one year high of $161.24.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, September 30th. The business services provider reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.02. Paychex had a net margin of 27.85% and a return on equity of 45.17%. The firm had revenue of $1.54 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.54 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.16 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.8% on a year-over-year basis. Paychex has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.428-5.528 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,370 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.92, for a total transaction of $1,755,550.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 81,755 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,602,669.60. This trade represents a 13.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PAYX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wolfe Research reduced their price objective on shares of Paychex from $145.00 to $140.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 26th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Paychex from $143.00 to $140.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Paychex from $158.00 to $148.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Jefferies Financial Group set a $130.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of Paychex from $140.00 to $126.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Paychex presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $141.29.

About Paychex

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.