Stonebridge Financial Group LLC Has $5.70 Million Position in Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

Stonebridge Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 39,158 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 703 shares during the period. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $5,696,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of PAYX. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in Paychex by 26.3% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 5,710 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $801,000 after purchasing an additional 1,190 shares during the period. Bison Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Paychex by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 4,035 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $566,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Paychex by 18.3% in the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 12,030 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,860,000 after purchasing an additional 1,858 shares during the period. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Paychex by 4.1% in the first quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,541 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $546,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Paychex by 31.8% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,474 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,153,000 after purchasing an additional 1,804 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on PAYX shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Paychex from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Paychex from $153.00 to $140.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Paychex from $140.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Paychex from $143.00 to $140.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, Barclays set a $155.00 price objective on shares of Paychex and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $141.29.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,370 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.92, for a total value of $1,755,550.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 81,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,602,669.60. This trade represents a 13.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Stock Down 1.1%

Paychex stock opened at $125.21 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $45.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.92. Paychex, Inc. has a 1-year low of $119.02 and a 1-year high of $161.24. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $134.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $143.86. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its earnings results 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 business had revenue of $1.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.16 earnings per share. Paychex has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.428-5.528 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 26th. Investors of record on Friday, November 7th will be given a $1.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 7th. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.5%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 97.08%.

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.