Paychex, Inc. $PAYX Shares Bought by Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund

Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund raised its position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 33.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 37,073 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,379 shares during the quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund’s holdings in Paychex were worth $4,699,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in PAYX. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in Paychex by 26.3% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 5,710 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $801,000 after purchasing an additional 1,190 shares in the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Paychex by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 4,035 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $566,000 after buying an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP purchased a new position in shares of Paychex in the first quarter worth about $3,333,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 3.4% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,813 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $434,000 after buying an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nova Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Paychex during the first quarter worth about $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PAYX has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Argus cut their price objective on shares of Paychex from $150.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Paychex from $128.00 to $116.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on Paychex from $126.00 to $114.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Paychex in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on Paychex from $140.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Paychex currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $125.67.

Paychex Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of Paychex stock opened at $113.77 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $112.60 and a 200 day moving average of $127.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.80 and a beta of 0.91. Paychex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $107.80 and a fifty-two week high of $161.24.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its earnings results on Friday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.26 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.23 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.56 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.55 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 46.38% and a net margin of 26.45%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.14 earnings per share. Paychex has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.480-5.530 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

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.