Sciencast Management LP Takes $3.52 Million Position in Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

Sciencast Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 22,824 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,521,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Paychex during the 1st quarter valued at $34,000. Quarry LP bought a new position in Paychex during the 1st quarter valued at about $34,000. Alpine Bank Wealth Management bought a new position in Paychex during the 1st quarter valued at about $34,000. Tsfg LLC lifted its stake in Paychex by 122.3% during the 1st quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 229 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 126 shares during the period. Finally, HWG Holdings LP purchased a new stake in shares of Paychex during the 1st quarter valued at about $46,000. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Price Performance

PAYX opened at $135.44 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.71 billion, a PE ratio of 29.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.91. The business’s 50-day moving average is $141.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $147.04. Paychex, Inc. has a 1 year low of $128.92 and a 1 year high of $161.24.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 25th. The business services provider reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.19. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.01% and a net margin of 29.75%.The business had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.38 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.12 earnings per share. Paychex has set its FY 2026 guidance at 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 21st were given a $1.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 21st. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. Paychex’s payout ratio is 94.53%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,370 shares of the business’s 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 sale, 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 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 the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the chairman owned 446,917 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $64,878,940.89. This trade represents a 17.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PAYX has been the subject of several research reports. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of Paychex in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $160.00 price target for the company. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Paychex from $156.00 to $152.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target 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. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $165.00 target price on Paychex and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Paychex from $148.00 to $153.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Paychex currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price 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.