417,092 Shares in Paychex, Inc. $PAYX Bought by Grandfield & Dodd LLC

Grandfield & Dodd LLC acquired a new position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 417,092 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $41,013,000. Paychex accounts for about 2.1% of Grandfield & Dodd LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. MidFirst Bank bought a new stake in shares of Paychex during the 2nd quarter worth $61,000. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Paychex during the second quarter valued at about $2,728,970,000. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Paychex during the second quarter valued at about $1,277,000. Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new stake in Paychex during the second quarter worth about $150,711,000. Finally, Perigon Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Paychex during the second quarter worth about $440,000. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PAYX has been the topic of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating on shares of Paychex in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Paychex from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Paychex from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Paychex from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $109.20.

Insider Activity at Paychex

In related news, Director Joseph M. Tucci sold 3,907 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.25, for a total value of $383,862.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 67,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,618,513. This trade represents a 5.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 2,600 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.09, for a total transaction of $299,234.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 18,547 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,134,574.23. This represents a 12.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Paychex Trading Down 2.9%

Shares of Paychex stock opened at $118.54 on Tuesday. Paychex, Inc. has a 52-week low of $85.45 and a 52-week high of $141.19. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $109.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $99.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.24 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.26.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, June 24th. The business services provider reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.31 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.60 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 27.03% and a return on equity of 50.90%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.19 earnings per share. Paychex has set its FY 2027 guidance at 5.900-6.010 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 5.96 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 28th will be paid a dividend of $1.19 per share. This represents a $4.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 28th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 97.34%.

About Paychex

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.