M&G PLC Sells 6,098 Shares of Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

M&G PLC decreased its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 41.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 8,540 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 6,098 shares during the period. M&G PLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $1,238,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Arkadios Wealth Advisors lifted its holdings in Paychex by 8.6% in the 2nd quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 53,974 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,851,000 after buying an additional 4,254 shares during the period. Martin Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Paychex by 166.9% during the second quarter. Martin Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,340 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $922,000 after buying an additional 3,965 shares during the period. MWA Asset Management raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 6.5% during the first 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 in the last quarter. Two Point Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Paychex during the second quarter valued at approximately $8,761,000. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new stake in Paychex in the first quarter worth $832,000. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Argus reduced their price objective on shares of Paychex from $170.00 to $150.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group set a $130.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Paychex to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Paychex from $143.00 to $140.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price on Paychex from $140.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $139.87.

Paychex Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ PAYX opened at $111.80 on Friday. Paychex, Inc. has a 1 year low of $109.99 and a 1 year high of $161.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.27. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $125.00 and a 200 day moving average of $139.36. The stock has a market cap of $40.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.93.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, September 30th. The business services provider reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.02. Paychex had a net margin of 27.85% and a return on equity of 45.17%. The business had revenue of $1.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.16 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter 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 expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 7th will be paid a dividend of $1.08 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 7th. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.9%. Paychex’s payout ratio is presently 97.08%.

About Paychex

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.