Wealthfront Advisers LLC Raises Stock Position in Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

Wealthfront Advisers LLC grew its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 245.0% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 87,924 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 62,437 shares during the period. Wealthfront Advisers LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $8,100,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of PAYX. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC raised its holdings in Paychex by 957.1% during the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 296 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares during the last quarter. Kingdom Financial Group LLC. acquired a new position in Paychex during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund purchased a new stake in Paychex during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Acumen Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Paychex during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on PAYX shares. Stephens cut their price target on Paychex from $125.00 to $105.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Paychex from $116.00 to $95.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of Paychex from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Paychex from $100.00 to $98.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating on shares of Paychex in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Paychex currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $105.80.

Paychex Stock Performance

Paychex stock opened at $114.39 on Friday. Paychex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $85.45 and a fifty-two week high of $148.11. The company has a market capitalization of $40.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.39 and a beta of 0.84. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $100.05 and a two-hundred day moving average of $98.39. 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 quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 24th. The business services provider reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.31 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.61 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.60 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 50.90% and a net margin of 27.03%.The business’s revenue was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.19 earnings per share. Paychex has set its FY 2027 guidance at 5.900-6.010 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 5.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 28th will be issued a $1.19 dividend. This represents a $4.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 28th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is 97.34%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Joseph M. Tucci sold 3,907 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.25, for a total transaction of $383,862.75. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 67,364 shares in the company, valued at $6,618,513. The trade was a 5.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Paychex Profile

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.