Paychex, Inc. $PAYX Shares Purchased by Swiss National Bank

Swiss National Bank grew its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 6.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 948,100 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 60,500 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Paychex were worth $87,339,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PAYX. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex in the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC increased its position in Paychex by 957.1% during the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 296 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares during the last quarter. Kingdom Financial Group LLC. purchased a new position in Paychex during the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. Acumen Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Paychex during the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Wealth Watch Advisors INC acquired a new position in shares of Paychex in the 3rd quarter valued at $42,000. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on PAYX shares. UBS Group lowered their price target on Paychex from $100.00 to $98.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Paychex from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. Citigroup upgraded Paychex from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $99.00 to $140.00 in a report on Monday, June 15th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of Paychex from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised 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 assigned a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Paychex has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $106.40.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Joseph M. Tucci sold 3,907 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.25, for a total value of $383,862.75. Following the sale, the director owned 67,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,618,513. The trade was a 5.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PAYX opened at $115.20 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22. The company has a market capitalization of $41.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.56 and a beta of 0.84. Paychex, Inc. has a twelve month low of $85.45 and a twelve month high of $148.11. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $100.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $98.29.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, June 24th. The business services provider reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.31 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.60 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 27.03% and a return on equity of 50.90%. Paychex’s revenue was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.19 earnings per share. Paychex has set its FY 2027 guidance at 5.900-6.010 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 5.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 28th will be issued a dividend of $1.19 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 28th. This represents a $4.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.1%. Paychex’s payout ratio is presently 97.34%.

Paychex Company Profile

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.