Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Purchases 80,138 Shares of Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. boosted its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 4.8% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 1,755,442 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 80,138 shares during the period. Paychex makes up 1.4% of Bahl & Gaynor Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding. Bahl & Gaynor Inc.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $270,830,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in PAYX. Alpine Bank Wealth Management bought a new position in Paychex in the first quarter worth approximately $34,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Paychex in the first quarter worth approximately $34,000. Tsfg LLC raised its stake in shares of Paychex by 122.3% in the first quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 229 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares during the last quarter. HWG Holdings LP purchased a new stake in shares of Paychex in the first quarter worth approximately $46,000. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. raised its stake in shares of Paychex by 381.2% in the fourth quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 409 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 324 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of PAYX stock opened at $140.81 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $50.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.81, a PEG ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $143.73 and its 200 day moving average is $147.78. Paychex, Inc. has a 12 month low of $127.76 and a 12 month high of $161.24.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 25th. The business services provider reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.01% and a net margin of 29.75%.The firm had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.38 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.12 earnings per share. Paychex has set its FY 2026 guidance at EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 21st will be issued a dividend of $1.08 per share. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 21st. Paychex’s payout ratio is presently 94.53%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PAYX has been the subject of several analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Paychex from $156.00 to $152.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on Paychex in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $160.00 price objective for the company. Jefferies Financial Group set a $140.00 price objective on Paychex and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Paychex from $150.00 to $148.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price objective on Paychex from $158.00 to $148.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $149.70.

Insider Transactions at Paychex

In other Paychex news, CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,370 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 81,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,602,669.60. The trade was a 13.14% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 97,526 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.17, for a total value of $14,157,849.42. Following the transaction, the chairman directly owned 446,917 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $64,878,940.89. The trade was a 17.91% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 11.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Paychex 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.