Hilltop Holdings Inc. Sells 24,764 Shares of Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

Hilltop Holdings Inc. trimmed its holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 70.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,227 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 24,764 shares during the period. Hilltop Holdings Inc.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $942,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in PAYX. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Paychex by 957.1% in 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. bought a new position in shares of Paychex in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Acumen Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Paychex during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Wealth Watch Advisors INC bought a new stake in Paychex during the third quarter worth $42,000. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on PAYX shares. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Paychex from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 8th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Paychex from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Paychex from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Paychex from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Paychex from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. One 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $107.53.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 value of $383,862.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 67,364 shares in the company, valued at $6,618,513. This trade represents a 5.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Paychex Price Performance

Paychex stock opened at $113.55 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $102.13 and a 200-day moving average price of $98.32. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22. Paychex, Inc. has a twelve month low of $85.45 and a twelve month high of $148.11. The company has a market capitalization of $40.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.22 and a beta of 0.84.

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

Paychex Dividend Announcement

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

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.