Evolve Private Wealth LLC Buys Shares of 4,633 Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

Evolve Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 4,633 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $456,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in PAYX. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC increased its position in Paychex by 957.1% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Kingdom Financial Group LLC. acquired a new stake in Paychex in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Leonteq Securities AG boosted its position in Paychex by 2,669.2% in the first quarter. Leonteq Securities AG now owns 360 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 347 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Acumen Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Paychex during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group upped 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, July 22nd. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $107.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a report on Monday, July 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Paychex from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Weiss Ratings raised Paychex from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Monday, July 20th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Paychex from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Paychex presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $109.20.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 2,600 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.09, for a total value of $299,234.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 18,547 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,134,574.23. The trade was a 12.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph M. Tucci sold 3,907 shares of the company’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 sale, the director 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 disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Paychex Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of NASDAQ PAYX opened at $124.99 on Wednesday. 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, Inc. has a 52-week low of $85.45 and a 52-week high of $139.53. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $112.08 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $100.38. The stock has a market cap of $44.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.56 and a beta of 0.81.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $1.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.60 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 27.03% and a return on equity of 50.90%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.19 earnings per share. Paychex has set its FY 2027 guidance at 5.900-6.010 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 5.96 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 28th will be given a dividend of $1.19 per share. This represents a $4.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 28th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.