Leuthold Group LLC Makes New Investment in Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

Leuthold Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm acquired 51,980 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $5,120,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PAYX. EFG International AG purchased a new position in shares of Paychex during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,494,000. Western Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Paychex during the first quarter worth approximately $1,174,000. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Paychex in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $7,296,000. Callan Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in Paychex in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,928,000. Finally, Hourglass Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Paychex in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $5,776,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paychex

In other news, Director Joseph Velli sold 7,839 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.68, for a total transaction of $844,103.52. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 81,725 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,800,148. The trade was a 8.75% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on PAYX shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Paychex from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $105.00 to $115.00 in a report on Thursday, September 24th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Paychex from $95.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 9th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $120.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Paychex from $118.00 to $113.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 24th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Paychex from $130.00 to $112.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $115.93.

Paychex Price Performance

PAYX opened at $114.76 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $111.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $103.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a current ratio of 1.28. Paychex, Inc. has a 1 year low of $85.45 and a 1 year high of $127.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.85 billion, a PE ratio of 22.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.81.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, September 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.32 by $0.02. Paychex had a net margin of 27.35% and a return on equity of 52.78%. The firm had revenue of $1.63 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.63 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.22 earnings per share. Paychex’s revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Paychex has set its FY 2027 guidance at 5.896-6.006 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 5.96 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 26th will be issued a $1.19 dividend. This represents a $4.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 26th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 94.44%.

Paychex Profile

Paychex, Inc provides payroll, human resources and employee benefits solutions to businesses of varying sizes. Its services include payroll processing, tax administration, time and attendance tools, HR support, employee benefits, retirement services and business insurance.

The company also offers professional employer organization services, which let businesses outsource certain employment responsibilities, as well as technology for workforce management, recruiting and compliance. Paychex primarily serves employers in the United States and supports businesses with international workforce needs.

Founded in Rochester, New York, in 1971 by B.