Peak Financial Advisors LLC Acquires Shares of 16,987 Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

Peak Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 16,987 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,153,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Heartwood Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Paychex during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. NewSquare Capital LLC lifted its position in Paychex by 83.8% during the second quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 215 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the period. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Paychex during the 1st quarter valued at $34,000. Nova Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Paychex during the 1st quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC grew its position in shares of Paychex by 40.6% in the 2nd quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC now owns 263 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of NASDAQ PAYX opened at $116.70 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $116.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $132.43. Paychex, Inc. has a 52-week low of $108.00 and a 52-week high of $161.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.27. The company has a market cap of $42.00 billion, a PE ratio of 26.22 and a beta of 0.91.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, September 30th. The business services provider reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.02. Paychex had a net margin of 27.85% and a return on equity of 45.17%. The company 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Paychex has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.428-5.528 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 7th were paid a $1.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 7th. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.7%. Paychex’s payout ratio is currently 97.08%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Paychex in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $139.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Paychex from $132.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Stephens upgraded shares of Paychex to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Cowen restated a “hold” rating on shares of Paychex in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Finally, Wolfe Research reduced their price objective on Paychex from $130.00 to $115.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $131.13.

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.