Flputnam Investment Management Co. Raises Holdings in Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

Flputnam Investment Management Co. increased its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 1.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 133,716 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,259 shares during the period. Flputnam Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $20,630,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of PAYX. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in Paychex by 26.3% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 5,710 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $801,000 after buying an additional 1,190 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new stake in Paychex during the 4th quarter valued at $227,000. Lido Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Paychex by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 7,188 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,008,000 after buying an additional 149 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 243,574 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $34,154,000 after purchasing an additional 15,221 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex during the fourth quarter worth $971,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of PAYX stock opened at $139.46 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10. The business has a 50 day moving average of $142.48 and a two-hundred day moving average of $147.46. Paychex, Inc. has a 52 week low of $128.92 and a 52 week high of $161.24. The company has a market cap of $50.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.52, a PEG ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.91.

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

Paychex Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Paychex news, CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,370 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 16th. The stock was 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 directly owned 81,755 shares in the company, valued at $11,602,669.60. The trade was a 13.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 97,526 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.17, for a total value of $14,157,849.42. Following the transaction, the chairman owned 446,917 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $64,878,940.89. This represents a 17.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 11.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on PAYX. Barclays set a $155.00 target price on Paychex and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on Paychex in a report on Thursday, July 10th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $160.00 target price on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group set a $140.00 target price on Paychex and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Paychex from $150.00 to $148.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Paychex from $148.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Paychex has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $149.70.

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.