First Horizon Corp Trims Stock Holdings in Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

First Horizon Corp lessened its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 65.7% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 4,067 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 7,793 shares during the quarter. First Horizon Corp’s holdings in Paychex were worth $375,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in PAYX. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Paychex by 12.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,348,625 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,750,669,000 after purchasing an additional 4,583,157 shares during the period. Capital International Investors grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 59.1% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 30,265,174 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,395,583,000 after buying an additional 11,243,295 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,988,393 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,569,218,000 after buying an additional 216,045 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Paychex by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,550,173 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,295,698,000 after acquiring an additional 263,152 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Paychex by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,705,424 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,093,958,000 after acquiring an additional 78,760 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Paychex News

Here are the key news stories impacting Paychex this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Zacks Research lifted multiple earnings estimates for Paychex (PAYX), including FY2027 and FY2029, signaling improved profit expectations and a potentially supportive outlook for the stock.
• Positive Sentiment: Paychex was highlighted among the Nasdaq 100’s highest-yielding stocks, which may attract income-focused investors looking for defensive dividend names.
• Neutral Sentiment: Short-interest data showed no reported short interest, so there is no clear evidence of a meaningful bearish positioning shift in the shares.
• Negative Sentiment: A separate article said Paychex (PAYX) could be as much as 38% below fair value after removal from the Russell Growth Index, suggesting the recent move may be partly tied to index-related repricing and raising valuation concerns. Article Title

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on PAYX. Guggenheim started coverage on shares of Paychex in a research report on Thursday, March 19th. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Paychex from $100.00 to $98.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Paychex from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Paychex in a report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Paychex from $116.00 to $95.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $105.80.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paychex

In other news, Director Joseph M. Tucci sold 3,907 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction on Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.25, for a total value of $383,862.75. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 67,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,618,513. The trade was a 5.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Stock Up 1.2%

Paychex stock traded up $1.28 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $107.54. The company had a trading volume of 2,179,668 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,609,491. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22. Paychex, Inc. has a 1 year low of $85.45 and a 1 year high of $148.11. The business has a fifty day moving average of $98.16 and a 200 day moving average of $98.48. The stock has a market cap of $38.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.99 and a beta of 0.84.

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

Paychex Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 13th were paid a $1.19 dividend. This is an increase from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.08. This represents a $4.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.4%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 13th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 97.34%.

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.