Inspire Investing LLC Raises Stake in Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

Inspire Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 14.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 38,054 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,784 shares during the period. Paychex accounts for about 0.6% of Inspire Investing LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest position. Inspire Investing LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $5,535,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Select Equity Group L.P. increased its position in Paychex by 99.0% in the first 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 last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Paychex during the first quarter worth $134,192,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Paychex by 7.3% during the first 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 period. Neuberger Berman Group LLC boosted its stake in Paychex by 117.6% during the first quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 1,217,092 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $187,512,000 after buying an additional 657,871 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in Paychex by 25.7% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,844,949 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $438,919,000 after buying an additional 581,410 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,370 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 81,755 shares in the company, valued at $11,602,669.60. This trade represents a 13.14% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on PAYX. Stephens raised shares of Paychex to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Paychex from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Paychex from $140.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Paychex from $158.00 to $148.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Paychex from $143.00 to $140.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $141.29.

Paychex Stock Performance

PAYX opened at $125.55 on Friday. Paychex, Inc. has a 52-week low of $119.02 and a 52-week high of $161.24. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The company has a market cap of $45.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.92. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $133.78 and its 200-day moving average price is $143.73.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, September 30th. The business services provider reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.54 billion for 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.16 earnings per share. Paychex has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.428-5.528 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 7th will be given a $1.08 dividend. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 97.08%.

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.