Paychex, Inc. $PAYX Shares Acquired by Martin Capital Partners LLC

Martin Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 166.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,340 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,965 shares during the period. Martin Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $922,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in PAYX. Alpine Bank Wealth Management purchased a new position in Paychex during the first quarter worth about $34,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Paychex during the first quarter worth about $34,000. Quarry LP purchased a new position in Paychex during the first quarter worth about $34,000. Tsfg LLC lifted its position in Paychex by 122.3% during the first quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 229 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 126 shares during the period. Finally, Nova Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Paychex during the first quarter worth about $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PAYX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays set a $155.00 target price on Paychex and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. UBS Group reduced their target price on Paychex from $155.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Paychex from $156.00 to $152.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Paychex from $148.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Paychex from $150.00 to $148.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 27th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $149.70.

Paychex Stock Performance

Paychex stock opened at $135.11 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $140.44 and its 200-day moving average is $146.52. The company has a market cap of $48.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.28. Paychex, Inc. has a 12 month low of $131.83 and a 12 month high of $161.24.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 25th. The business services provider reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19. The company had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.38 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.01% and a net margin of 29.75%.During the same period last year, the business posted $1.12 EPS. Paychex has set its FY 2026 guidance at EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 21st were paid a $1.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 21st. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 94.53%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

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.