Capital Investment Advisors LLC Buys 398 Shares of Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

Capital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 3.4% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 12,045 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 398 shares during the quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $1,752,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in PAYX. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its stake in 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 valued at $21,117,000 after acquiring an additional 74,245 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised 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 acquiring an additional 29,320 shares during the period. Martin Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in Paychex by 166.9% in the 2nd quarter. Martin Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,340 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $922,000 after acquiring an additional 3,965 shares during the period. MWA Asset Management raised 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 acquiring an additional 262 shares during the period. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new stake in Paychex in the 1st quarter valued at $832,000. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Trading Down 2.2%

PAYX stock opened at $124.01 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a current ratio of 1.27. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $136.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $144.72. Paychex, Inc. has a 52 week low of $119.02 and a 52 week high of $161.24. The company has a market capitalization of $44.60 billion, a PE ratio of 27.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.92.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, September 30th. The business services provider reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.02. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.17% and a net margin of 27.85%.The company 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. Paychex’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. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Monday, July 21st were given a $1.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 21st. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 94.53%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 97,526 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.17, for a total value of $14,157,849.42. Following the transaction, the chairman owned 446,917 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,878,940.89. This trade represents a 17.91% 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 link. Also, CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,370 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 16th. The stock was 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 owned 81,755 shares in the company, valued at $11,602,669.60. The trade was a 13.14% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on PAYX shares. Jefferies Financial Group set a $130.00 price target on Paychex in a research note on Tuesday. Citigroup dropped their price target on Paychex from $158.00 to $148.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $165.00 price target on Paychex and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Paychex from $148.00 to $132.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Paychex from $143.00 to $140.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Paychex has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $142.83.

Paychex 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.