Paychex, Inc. $PAYX Stake Boosted by Swiss National Bank

Swiss National Bank increased its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 7.4% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 981,300 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 67,400 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Paychex were worth $142,740,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Martin Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in Paychex by 166.9% in the second quarter. Martin Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,340 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $922,000 after purchasing an additional 3,965 shares in the last quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors increased its holdings in Paychex by 8.6% in the 2nd quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 53,974 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,851,000 after buying an additional 4,254 shares during the period. MWA Asset Management raised its position in shares of Paychex by 6.5% in the 1st quarter. MWA Asset Management now owns 4,269 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $659,000 after buying an additional 262 shares in the last quarter. Two Point Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Paychex during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $8,761,000. Finally, Midwest Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $5,202,000. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PAYX has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Paychex to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Stephens upgraded Paychex to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Paychex from $142.00 to $137.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Wolfe Research reduced their price objective on Paychex from $145.00 to $140.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Finally, Argus lowered their target price on Paychex from $170.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $139.87.

Paychex Trading Up 2.8%

Shares of NASDAQ PAYX opened at $111.46 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $122.06 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $137.82. The stock has a market cap of $40.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.93. Paychex, Inc. has a 52-week low of $108.00 and a 52-week high of $161.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.27.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, September 30th. The business services provider reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.54 billion for 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%. Paychex’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.16 earnings per share. Paychex has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.428-5.528 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 7th will be given a dividend of $1.08 per share. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 97.08%.

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.