Paychex, Inc. $PAYX Shares Sold by Welch & Forbes LLC

Welch & Forbes LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 1.7% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 362,116 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 6,357 shares during the quarter. Welch & Forbes LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $33,358,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. 44 Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Paychex by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. 44 Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,290 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $479,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Paychex by 3.5% in the second quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,645 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $381,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. JPL Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Paychex by 0.3% in the third quarter. JPL Wealth Management LLC now owns 27,686 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,509,000 after buying an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust increased its holdings in Paychex by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 5,834 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $654,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bollard Group LLC raised its stake in Paychex by 0.6% during the third quarter. Bollard Group LLC now owns 16,496 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,091,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Paychex

In other Paychex news, Director Joseph M. Tucci sold 3,907 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.25, for a total transaction of $383,862.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 67,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,618,513. The trade was a 5.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on PAYX shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Paychex from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Paychex from $100.00 to $98.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Paychex from $116.00 to $95.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 26th. Argus upgraded shares of Paychex to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Citigroup raised shares of Paychex from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $99.00 to $140.00 in a report on Monday, June 15th. One 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 given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $105.80.

More Paychex News

Here are the key news stories impacting Paychex this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Zacks Research lifted multiple earnings estimates for Paychex (PAYX), including FY2027 and FY2029, signaling improved profit expectations and a potentially supportive outlook for the stock.
• Positive Sentiment: Paychex was highlighted among the Nasdaq 100’s highest-yielding stocks, which may attract income-focused investors looking for defensive dividend names.
• Neutral Sentiment: Short-interest data showed no reported short interest, so there is no clear evidence of a meaningful bearish positioning shift in the shares.
• Negative Sentiment: A separate article said Paychex (PAYX) could be as much as 38% below fair value after removal from the Russell Growth Index, suggesting the recent move may be partly tied to index-related repricing and raising valuation concerns. Article Title

Paychex Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PAYX traded up $1.28 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $107.54. 2,179,668 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,609,491. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.99 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $98.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $98.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.26. Paychex, Inc. has a twelve month low of $85.45 and a twelve month high of $148.11.

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

Paychex Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 13th were given a $1.19 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 13th. This represents a $4.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.4%. This is a boost from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.08. Paychex’s payout ratio is 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.