Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Purchases 2,949 Shares of Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI raised its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 98.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,954 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,949 shares during the quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI’s holdings in Paychex were worth $866,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in PAYX. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. increased its stake in Paychex by 8.6% in the second quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 29,168 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,243,000 after acquiring an additional 2,311 shares during the last quarter. Woodley Farra Manion Portfolio Management Inc. lifted its stake in Paychex by 0.6% during the second quarter. Woodley Farra Manion Portfolio Management Inc. now owns 20,752 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,019,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 53.0% in the 2nd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 13,951 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,029,000 after purchasing an additional 4,833 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its stake in shares of Paychex by 3.9% in the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 149,707 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $21,776,000 after purchasing an additional 5,551 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWS Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Paychex by 27.0% in the 2nd quarter. CWS Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,158 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $605,000 after purchasing an additional 884 shares during the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PAYX has been the topic of several research analyst reports. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on Paychex from $140.00 to $126.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Paychex from $140.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of Paychex from $153.00 to $148.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Argus dropped their price objective on shares of Paychex from $170.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Paychex from $132.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $139.87.

Paychex Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $109.96 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $123.54 and its 200-day moving average is $138.50. Paychex, Inc. has a 1-year low of $109.07 and a 1-year high of $161.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The stock has a market cap of $39.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.93.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, September 30th. The business services provider reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.02. Paychex had a net margin of 27.85% and a return on equity of 45.17%. The business had revenue of $1.54 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.54 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.16 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Paychex has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.428-5.528 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 26th. Investors of record on Friday, November 7th will be paid a $1.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 7th. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.9%. Paychex’s payout ratio is currently 97.08%.

Paychex Company Profile

Paychex, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides integrated human capital management solutions (HCM) for payroll, benefits, human resources (HR), and insurance services for small to medium-sized businesses in the United States, Europe, and India. It offers payroll processing services; payroll tax administration services; employee payment services; and regulatory compliance services, such as new-hire reporting and garnishment processing.