Paychex, Inc. $PAYX Shares Bought by Creative Planning

Creative Planning lifted its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 6.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 131,741 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 7,513 shares during the quarter. Creative Planning’s holdings in Paychex were worth $19,163,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Paychex by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,807,843 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,907,314,000 after buying an additional 286,818 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 737,542 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Paychex by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,183,871 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,481,053,000 after purchasing an additional 274,947 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Paychex by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,989,182 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $769,731,000 after purchasing an additional 181,628 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Paychex by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,135,296 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $637,993,000 after buying an additional 30,670 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on PAYX. Citigroup began coverage on Paychex in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $139.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Paychex from $132.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 20th. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of Paychex from $153.00 to $148.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Stephens upgraded shares of Paychex to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Paychex to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Paychex currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $139.87.

Paychex Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of PAYX stock opened at $112.10 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $40.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. Paychex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $109.99 and a fifty-two week high of $161.24. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $124.53 and a 200-day simple moving average of $139.03.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, September 30th. The business services provider reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $1.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.54 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.16 EPS. The firm’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, analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 issued a dividend of $1.08 per share. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is 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.