IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd Buys 650 Shares of Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd raised its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 2.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 32,078 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 650 shares during the quarter. IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd’s holdings in Paychex were worth $4,666,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PAYX. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund increased its holdings in Paychex by 23.6% during the second quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 96,245 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $14,000,000 after buying an additional 18,400 shares during the last quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC grew its position in shares of Paychex by 27.1% in the 2nd quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 3,843 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $559,000 after acquiring an additional 820 shares during the period. Guinness Asset Management LTD increased its stake in shares of Paychex by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 1,630,507 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $237,094,000 after purchasing an additional 23,781 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Paychex in the 2nd quarter valued at about $6,384,000. Finally, Transcend Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Paychex by 295.5% in the 2nd quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC now owns 8,203 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,193,000 after purchasing an additional 6,129 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. UBS Group lowered their price target on Paychex from $140.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised Paychex to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Stephens upgraded Paychex to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of Paychex from $153.00 to $148.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Paychex from $143.00 to $140.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $139.87.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PAYX opened at $125.01 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.27. The firm has a market cap of $44.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.92. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $131.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $142.04. Paychex, Inc. has a one year low of $119.02 and a one year high of $161.24.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, September 30th. The business services provider reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.02. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.17% and a net margin of 27.85%.The company had revenue of $1.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.16 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 16.8% on a year-over-year basis. Paychex has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.428-5.528 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 7th will be issued a $1.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 7th. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.5%. Paychex’s payout ratio is currently 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.