Douglas Lane & Associates LLC Sells 154 Shares of Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

Douglas Lane & Associates LLC lowered its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 5.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,531 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 154 shares during the period. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $368,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Paychex by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,807,843 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,907,314,000 after acquiring an additional 286,818 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 7.3% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,782,173 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,663,474,000 after buying an additional 737,542 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,989,182 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $769,731,000 after buying an additional 181,628 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Paychex by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,135,296 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $637,993,000 after purchasing an additional 30,670 shares during the period. Finally, Select Equity Group L.P. raised its holdings in Paychex by 99.0% in the 1st quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 3,494,312 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $539,102,000 after purchasing an additional 1,738,372 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $135.11 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $140.44 and a 200 day moving average of $146.52. The company has a market capitalization of $48.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a quick ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10. Paychex, Inc. has a 52 week low of $131.83 and a 52 week 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 (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19. The business had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.38 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.01% and a net margin of 29.75%.During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.12 earnings per share. Paychex has set its FY 2026 guidance at EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 21st were given a dividend of $1.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 21st. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 94.53%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Paychex news, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 97,526 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chairman directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,370 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.92, for a total transaction 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 approximately $11,602,669.60. The trade was a 13.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Paychex from $156.00 to $152.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 26th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on Paychex in a report on Thursday, July 10th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $160.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup decreased their price target on Paychex from $158.00 to $148.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $165.00 target price on Paychex and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on Paychex from $155.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus 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.