DNB Asset Management AS Acquires 13,615 Shares of Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

DNB Asset Management AS grew its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 14.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 107,562 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,615 shares during the quarter. DNB Asset Management AS’s holdings in Paychex were worth $15,646,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Select Equity Group L.P. raised its position in Paychex by 99.0% in the first quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 3,494,312 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $539,102,000 after acquiring an additional 1,738,372 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Paychex during the 1st quarter worth approximately $134,192,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 7.3% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,782,173 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,663,474,000 after purchasing an additional 737,542 shares during the period. Neuberger Berman Group LLC lifted its stake in Paychex by 117.6% in the first quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 1,217,092 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $187,512,000 after purchasing an additional 657,871 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in Paychex by 25.7% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,844,949 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $438,919,000 after purchasing an additional 581,410 shares during the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PAYX has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group set a $130.00 target price on Paychex in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. Argus decreased their price objective on Paychex from $170.00 to $150.00 in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Paychex from $142.00 to $137.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Paychex in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $139.00 target price for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Paychex from $153.00 to $140.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $139.87.

Paychex Price Performance

NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $111.46 on Friday. Paychex, Inc. has a 52-week low of $108.00 and a 52-week high of $161.24. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $122.06 and a 200 day moving average of $137.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.93.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced 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. The business had revenue of $1.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.54 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.17% and a net margin of 27.85%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.16 EPS. Paychex has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.428-5.528 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

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 given 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 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.