21,114 Shares in Paychex, Inc. $PAYX Bought by Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A.

Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. purchased a new stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor purchased 21,114 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,945,000.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 12.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,348,625 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,750,669,000 after purchasing an additional 4,583,157 shares during the last quarter. LBP AM SA grew its stake in Paychex by 125.2% in the fourth quarter. LBP AM SA now owns 40,517 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,545,000 after purchasing an additional 22,527 shares in the last quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Paychex by 17.4% in the fourth quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC now owns 79,708 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $8,942,000 after buying an additional 11,805 shares during the last quarter. Comerica Bank increased its holdings in Paychex by 10.4% in the fourth quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 121,705 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $13,653,000 after buying an additional 11,497 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its stake in Paychex by 38.1% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,856,157 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $235,286,000 after buying an additional 511,728 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Paychex

In related news, Director Joseph M. Tucci sold 3,907 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.25, for a total value of $383,862.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 67,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,618,513. This represents a 5.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PAYX has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Stephens reduced their target price on Paychex from $125.00 to $105.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 26th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Paychex to $52.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Paychex in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of Paychex from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 26th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded shares of Paychex from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $99.00 to $140.00 in a research note on Monday, June 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $105.80.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $106.35 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $96.60 and its 200 day moving average price is $98.76. The company has a market cap of $38.10 billion, a PE ratio of 21.75 and a beta of 0.84. Paychex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $85.45 and a fifty-two week high of $148.11.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, June 24th. The business services provider reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.31 by $0.01. Paychex had a net margin of 27.03% and a return on equity of 50.90%. The firm had revenue of $1.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.60 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.19 EPS. Paychex’s quarterly revenue was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. Paychex has set its FY 2027 guidance at 5.900-6.010 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 5.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 13th were issued a $1.19 dividend. This is a positive change from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.08. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 13th. This represents a $4.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.5%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 97.34%.

About Paychex

Paychex, Inc, founded in 1971 by B. Thomas “Tom” Golisano and headquartered in Rochester, New York, is a provider of payroll, human resources, and benefits outsourcing solutions for small- and medium-sized businesses. The company’s core services include payroll processing and tax filing, employee benefits administration, retirement services, and workers’ compensation administration, designed to simplify back-office operations and help clients comply with regulatory and tax requirements.

Paychex offers an integrated technology platform, marketed under the Paychex Flex brand, which delivers cloud-based payroll, HR, time and attendance, and reporting tools.