7,843 Paychex, Inc. $PAYX Shares Purchased by Rakuten Investment Management Inc.

Rakuten Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 9.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 88,307 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,843 shares during the period. Rakuten Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $8,770,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. XXEC Inc. bought a new position in shares of Paychex during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,123,016,000. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Paychex in the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,728,970,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in Paychex in the 2nd quarter valued at about $434,061,000. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new stake in Paychex in the 2nd quarter valued at about $207,184,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in Paychex during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $193,555,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Joseph Velli sold 7,839 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.68, for a total value of $844,103.52. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 81,725 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,800,148. This represents a 8.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on PAYX shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Paychex from $95.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 9th. Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Paychex in a research note on Thursday, September 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their price objective on Paychex from $112.00 to $96.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 28th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $130.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research report on Thursday, September 24th. Finally, Stephens cut their target price on Paychex from $132.00 to $113.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $127.88.

Paychex Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ PAYX opened at $119.50 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.28. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $112.18 and a 200-day moving average price of $103.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.81. Paychex, Inc. has a 1 year low of $85.45 and a 1 year high of $127.98.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, September 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.32 by $0.02. Paychex had a net margin of 27.35% and a return on equity of 52.78%. The company had revenue of $1.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.63 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.22 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Paychex has set its FY 2027 guidance at 5.896-6.006 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 5.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 26th will be issued a dividend of $1.19 per share. This represents a $4.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 26th. Paychex’s payout ratio is currently 94.44%.

Paychex Profile

Paychex, Inc provides payroll, human resources and employee-benefits solutions to small and medium-sized businesses. Its offerings include payroll processing, tax administration, time and attendance management, recruiting, onboarding, human resources administration, compliance support and employee benefits services.

The company also provides retirement-plan services, insurance solutions and professional employer organization services. Through its software and outsourced services, Paychex helps employers manage workforce administration, employee data and regulatory requirements.

Paychex was founded in 1971 by B.