GHP Investment Advisors Inc. Raises Holdings in Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

GHP Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 5.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 17,552 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 969 shares during the quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $2,553,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in Paychex during the 1st quarter valued at about $34,000. Nova Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Paychex during the 1st quarter valued at about $38,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Paychex by 94.0% during the 2nd quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 293 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares during the period. Bogart Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Paychex by 32.5% during the 2nd quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 379 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the period. Finally, Olde Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Paychex during the 1st quarter valued at about $59,000. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on PAYX. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Paychex from $132.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 20th. Wolfe Research dropped their price objective on Paychex from $145.00 to $140.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 26th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $130.00 price objective on Paychex in a report on Tuesday, September 30th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Paychex from $140.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Paychex from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $139.87.

Paychex Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $117.03 on Monday. Paychex, Inc. has a 52-week low of $116.08 and a 52-week high of $161.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.92. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $129.48 and a 200-day moving average price of $141.23. 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 announced its earnings results on Tuesday, September 30th. The business services provider reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.02. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.17% and a net margin of 27.85%.The firm had revenue of $1.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.54 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.16 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Paychex has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.428-5.528 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 7th will be given a $1.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 7th. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.7%. 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.