Paychex, Inc. $PAYX Shares Sold by Prospera Financial Services Inc

Prospera Financial Services Inc decreased its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 3.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 34,310 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,300 shares during the quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc’s holdings in Paychex were worth $4,991,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in Paychex by 26.3% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 5,710 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $801,000 after buying an additional 1,190 shares during the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC grew its position in Paychex by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 4,035 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $566,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Paychex by 4.8% during the 1st quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,612 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $866,000 after acquiring an additional 256 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC grew its position in Paychex by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 356,794 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $55,046,000 after buying an additional 1,456 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Xponance Inc. raised its holdings in Paychex by 2.0% during the first quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 58,320 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $8,998,000 after purchasing an additional 1,171 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PAYX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Paychex from $140.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group set a $130.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a report on Tuesday, September 30th. Stephens upgraded Paychex to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Paychex from $153.00 to $140.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their price target on Paychex from $140.00 to $126.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note 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 issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $139.87.

Paychex Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of NASDAQ PAYX opened at $111.96 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $127.05 and its 200-day simple moving average is $140.23. Paychex, Inc. has a 1 year low of $110.70 and a 1 year high of $161.24. The firm has a market cap of $40.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.16, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.93. 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 released its quarterly 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 net margin of 27.85% and a return on equity of 45.17%. The business 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 company earned $1.16 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly 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 analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 is Friday, November 7th. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.9%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 97.08%.

Paychex Company 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.