Praxis Investment Management Inc. Reduces Stake in Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

Praxis Investment Management Inc. cut its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 12.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,334 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 460 shares during the quarter. Praxis Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $485,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of PAYX. Select Equity Group L.P. lifted its holdings in Paychex by 99.0% in the first quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 3,494,312 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $539,102,000 after acquiring an additional 1,738,372 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Paychex in the first quarter valued at approximately $134,192,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Paychex by 7.3% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,782,173 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,663,474,000 after acquiring an additional 737,542 shares during the period. Neuberger Berman Group LLC lifted its holdings in Paychex by 117.6% in the first quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 1,217,092 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $187,512,000 after acquiring an additional 657,871 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Paychex by 25.7% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,844,949 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $438,919,000 after acquiring an additional 581,410 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Paychex Stock Up 0.1%

NASDAQ PAYX opened at $126.56 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $132.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $142.78. Paychex, Inc. has a one year low of $119.02 and a one year 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 $45.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.92.

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

Paychex Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 26th. Investors of record on Friday, November 7th will be paid a $1.08 dividend. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 97.08%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on PAYX shares. Argus decreased their price target on Paychex from $170.00 to $150.00 in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Paychex from $142.00 to $137.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $165.00 target price on Paychex and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. TD Cowen reduced their target price on Paychex from $140.00 to $126.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on Paychex from $153.00 to $148.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $141.29.

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.