US Bancorp DE Trims Stock Holdings in Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

US Bancorp DE decreased its holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 9.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 187,546 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 19,660 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE’s holdings in Paychex were worth $27,281,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Select Equity Group L.P. boosted its position in shares of 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 valued at $539,102,000 after acquiring an additional 1,738,372 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Paychex in the first quarter valued at approximately $134,192,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Paychex by 7.3% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,782,173 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,663,474,000 after acquiring an additional 737,542 shares during the period. Neuberger Berman Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Paychex by 117.6% in the first quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 1,217,092 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $187,512,000 after acquiring an additional 657,871 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Paychex by 25.7% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,844,949 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $438,919,000 after acquiring an additional 581,410 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PAYX has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Stephens upgraded shares of Paychex to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Paychex from $148.00 to $132.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of Paychex from $140.00 to $126.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Barclays set a $155.00 target price on shares of Paychex and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Finally, Wolfe Research dropped their target price on shares of Paychex from $145.00 to $140.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $141.29.

Insider Activity at Paychex

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 shares were sold at an average price of $141.92, for a total transaction of $1,755,550.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 81,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,602,669.60. This trade represents a 13.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Trading Up 0.3%

PAYX stock opened at $125.55 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $45.18 billion, a PE ratio of 28.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.92. Paychex, Inc. has a one year low of $119.02 and a one year high of $161.24. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $133.78 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $143.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.27.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, September 30th. The business services provider reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business’s revenue was up 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.16 earnings per share. Paychex has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.428-5.528 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 7th will be paid a dividend of $1.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 7th. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 97.08%.

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.