Paychex, Inc. $PAYX Holdings Decreased by Midwest Professional Planners LTD.

Midwest Professional Planners LTD. lowered its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 73.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,015 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 16,570 shares during the quarter. Midwest Professional Planners LTD.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $591,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of PAYX. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Paychex during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Kingdom Financial Group LLC. bought a new stake in Paychex during the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. Acumen Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Paychex in the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Wealth Watch Advisors INC acquired a new stake in Paychex in the third quarter worth approximately $42,000. Finally, Field & Main Bank bought a new position in Paychex during the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on PAYX shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Paychex from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating on shares of Paychex in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Weiss Ratings raised Paychex from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Paychex from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Paychex from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, June 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $109.20.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Joseph M. Tucci sold 3,907 shares of Paychex 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 transaction, the director directly owned 67,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,618,513. This trade represents a 5.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 2,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.09, for a total transaction of $299,234.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 18,547 shares in the company, valued at $2,134,574.23. This represents a 12.29% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PAYX opened at $125.64 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $114.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $101.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.69 and a beta of 0.82. 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 52-week low of $85.45 and a 52-week high of $139.06.

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

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 28th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 28th were issued a $1.19 dividend. This represents a $4.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 28th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 97.34%.

About Paychex

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.