Crews Bank & Trust Cuts Stock Position in Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

Crews Bank & Trust lowered its holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,559 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 250 shares during the period. Crews Bank & Trust’s holdings in Paychex were worth $1,100,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Alpine Bank Wealth Management purchased a new position in Paychex in the first quarter worth $34,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Paychex in the first quarter worth $34,000. Quarry LP purchased a new position in Paychex in the first quarter worth $34,000. Tsfg LLC boosted its position in Paychex by 122.3% in the first quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 229 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nova Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Paychex in the first quarter worth $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on PAYX shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Paychex from $148.00 to $153.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Barclays set a $155.00 price objective on Paychex and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Wolfe Research decreased their price objective on Paychex from $145.00 to $140.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 26th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Paychex from $148.00 to $132.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective on Paychex from $158.00 to $148.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $142.83.

Paychex Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $123.42 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a current ratio of 1.27. Paychex, Inc. has a 52-week low of $119.02 and a 52-week high of $161.24. The firm has a market cap of $44.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.73, a PEG ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.92. The business’s fifty day moving average is $136.13 and its 200 day moving average is $144.55.

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

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Monday, July 21st were paid a dividend of $1.08 per share. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 21st. Paychex’s payout ratio is presently 97.08%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Paychex news, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 97,526 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.17, for a total value of $14,157,849.42. Following the transaction, the chairman directly owned 446,917 shares in the company, valued at $64,878,940.89. This represents a 17.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,370 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.92, for a total value of $1,755,550.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 81,755 shares in the company, valued at $11,602,669.60. This represents a 13.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

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.