Stephens Inc. AR Trims Position in Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

Stephens Inc. AR decreased its position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 31.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 35,928 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 16,717 shares during the period. Stephens Inc. AR’s holdings in Paychex were worth $5,226,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Alpine Bank Wealth Management purchased a new position in Paychex during the first quarter worth approximately $34,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Paychex during the first quarter worth approximately $34,000. Quarry LP purchased a new position in Paychex during the first quarter worth approximately $34,000. Tsfg LLC raised its stake in Paychex by 122.3% during the first quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 229 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares during the period. Finally, Nova Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Paychex during the first quarter worth approximately $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on PAYX shares. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Paychex from $158.00 to $148.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $165.00 target price on shares of Paychex and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $130.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a report on Tuesday, September 30th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Paychex from $132.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Paychex from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $140.47.

Paychex Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $127.54 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $45.90 billion, a PE ratio of 28.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.92. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $132.13 and its 200 day moving average price is $142.49. Paychex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $119.02 and a fifty-two week high of $161.24. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $1.54 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.54 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 27.85% and a return on equity of 45.17%. Paychex’s quarterly revenue was up 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.16 EPS. Paychex has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.428-5.528 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 7th will be given a dividend of $1.08 per share. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 7th. Paychex’s payout ratio is 97.08%.

Paychex Company 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.