Welch Group LLC Increases Stock Position in Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

Welch Group LLC grew its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 0.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 398,493 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the period. Paychex comprises about 2.4% of Welch Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position. Welch Group LLC owned about 0.11% of Paychex worth $57,965,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Summit Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in Paychex by 2.4% in the first quarter. Summit Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,027 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $467,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. LGT Group Foundation raised its stake in Paychex by 2.8% in the first quarter. LGT Group Foundation now owns 2,528 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $390,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Equity Partners raised its stake in Paychex by 0.9% in the first quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 7,623 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,176,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Paychex by 2.4% in the first quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,192 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $492,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Finally, King Wealth Management Group raised its stake in Paychex by 4.7% in the first quarter. King Wealth Management Group now owns 1,669 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $257,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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 $130.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research note on Tuesday, September 30th. Wolfe Research lowered their target price on shares of Paychex from $145.00 to $140.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Paychex from $158.00 to $148.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Paychex from $140.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Paychex from $142.00 to $137.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $141.29.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,370 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of Paychex stock opened at $125.55 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.27. Paychex, Inc. has a 52-week low of $119.02 and a 52-week high of $161.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.92. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $133.78 and its 200-day moving average price is $143.63.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, September 30th. The business services provider reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analysts’ expectations of $1.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.16 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 16.8% on a year-over-year basis. Paychex has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.428-5.528 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 7th will be issued a $1.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 7th. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 97.08%.

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.