Paychex, Inc. $PAYX Shares Sold by Meritage Portfolio Management

Meritage Portfolio Management reduced its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,733 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 383 shares during the quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management’s holdings in Paychex were worth $2,434,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. CWM LLC raised its position in shares of Paychex by 7.2% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 19,788 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,878,000 after buying an additional 1,322 shares during the period. OFI Invest Asset Management lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 31.1% in the 2nd quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management now owns 666 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $97,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 11.8% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 64,592 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $9,397,000 after purchasing an additional 6,822 shares in the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 12.4% in the 2nd quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 25,387 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,693,000 after purchasing an additional 2,797 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 4.2% in the 2nd quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 5,097 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $741,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Barclays set a $155.00 price objective on shares of Paychex and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Paychex from $148.00 to $132.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Paychex from $142.00 to $137.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Jefferies Financial Group set a $130.00 price target on Paychex in a report on Tuesday, September 30th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $165.00 price target on Paychex and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $141.29.

Paychex Trading Up 0.3%

NASDAQ PAYX opened at $125.55 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $133.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $143.63. The stock has a market cap of $45.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.21, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.92. Paychex, Inc. has a 52 week low of $119.02 and a 52 week high of $161.24.

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

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 7th will be paid a dividend of $1.08 per share. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 97.08%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.