Marble Harbor Investment Counsel LLC Lowers Position in Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

Marble Harbor Investment Counsel LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 13.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,978 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 625 shares during the quarter. Marble Harbor Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $579,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of PAYX. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Paychex by 0.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,807,843 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,907,314,000 after purchasing an additional 286,818 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Paychex by 7.3% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,782,173 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,663,474,000 after buying an additional 737,542 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Paychex by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,989,182 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $769,731,000 after buying an additional 181,628 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Paychex by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,135,296 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $637,993,000 after buying an additional 30,670 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Select Equity Group L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 99.0% during the 1st quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 3,494,312 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $539,102,000 after acquiring an additional 1,738,372 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of Paychex stock opened at $111.64 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.27. Paychex, Inc. has a one year low of $110.16 and a one year high of $161.24. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $126.00 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $139.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.93.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, September 30th. The business services provider reported $1.22 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $1.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.16 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 16.8% on a year-over-year basis. Paychex has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.428-5.528 EPS. Analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group set a $130.00 price target on Paychex in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. Citigroup assumed coverage on Paychex in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $139.00 price objective on the stock. Argus cut their target price on Paychex from $170.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of Paychex from $140.00 to $126.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Paychex from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Friday. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $139.87.

About Paychex

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.