NewEdge Wealth LLC Sells 9,679 Shares of Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

NewEdge Wealth LLC cut its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 29.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 23,684 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 9,679 shares during the period. NewEdge Wealth LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $2,182,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 957.1% in the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 296 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 268 shares during the last quarter. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Paychex during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Kingdom Financial Group LLC. acquired a new stake in Paychex in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Leonteq Securities AG lifted its stake in Paychex by 2,669.2% in the first quarter. Leonteq Securities AG now owns 360 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 347 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Acumen Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Paychex news, Director Joseph M. Tucci sold 3,907 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director owned 67,364 shares in the company, valued at $6,618,513. This represents a 5.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $107.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a report on Monday, July 20th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Paychex from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Paychex from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. Citigroup upgraded Paychex from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $99.00 to $140.00 in a research note on Monday, June 15th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on Paychex from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $107.53.

Paychex Stock Up 2.6%

Paychex stock opened at $113.55 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $40.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.22 and a beta of 0.84. 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 twelve month low of $85.45 and a twelve month high of $148.11. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $102.13 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $98.40.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its quarterly 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. Paychex had a return on equity of 50.90% and a net margin of 27.03%.The business had revenue of $1.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.60 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.19 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. Paychex has set its FY 2027 guidance at 5.900-6.010 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 5.96 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 28th will be issued a $1.19 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 28th. This represents a $4.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.2%. Paychex’s payout ratio is currently 97.34%.

Paychex 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.