Paychex, Inc. $PAYX Shares Sold by Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc.

Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. decreased its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 50.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 27,065 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 27,289 shares during the quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $3,937,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. NewSquare Capital LLC increased its stake in Paychex by 83.8% during the 2nd quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 215 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex in the first quarter worth approximately $34,000. Nova Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Paychex during the first quarter worth approximately $38,000. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC raised its stake in Paychex by 40.6% in the 2nd quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC now owns 263 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Whipplewood Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Paychex by 94.0% in the 2nd quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 293 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares in 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 research analysts have recently issued reports on PAYX shares. Stephens raised shares of Paychex to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Paychex from $142.00 to $137.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Paychex from $132.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Citigroup initiated coverage on Paychex in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $139.00 price target for the company. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their price objective on Paychex from $140.00 to $126.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Paychex presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $139.87.

Paychex Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of NASDAQ PAYX opened at $111.96 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $40.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.93. 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 company has a 50 day simple moving average of $127.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $140.23. Paychex, Inc. has a 1 year low of $110.70 and a 1 year high of $161.24.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, September 30th. The business services provider reported $1.22 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $1.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.54 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.16 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Paychex has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.428-5.528 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 7th. 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.