Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Buys Shares of 12,684 Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 12,684 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,247,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in PAYX. XXEC Inc. bought a new stake in Paychex in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,123,016,000. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Paychex during the second quarter worth about $2,728,970,000. Capital International Investors boosted its position in Paychex by 59.1% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 30,265,174 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,395,583,000 after purchasing an additional 11,243,295 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in shares of Paychex in the second quarter worth about $434,061,000. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. increased its stake in shares of Paychex by 4,141.2% in the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,409,229 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $270,267,000 after purchasing an additional 2,352,423 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on PAYX. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Paychex from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating on shares of Paychex in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Paychex from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Paychex from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Paychex from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Paychex presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $109.20.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Joseph M. Tucci sold 3,907 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.25, for a total transaction of $383,862.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 67,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,618,513. The trade was a 5.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 2,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.09, for a total transaction of $299,234.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 18,547 shares in the company, valued at $2,134,574.23. This represents a 12.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Company insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Price Performance

PAYX opened at $127.04 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.98 and a beta of 0.81. Paychex, Inc. has a one year low of $85.45 and a one year high of $139.53. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $113.76 and a 200-day moving average price of $100.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.26.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 24th. The business services provider reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.31 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.61 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.60 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 50.90% and a net margin of 27.03%.The firm’s revenue was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.19 earnings per share. Paychex has set its FY 2027 guidance at 5.900-6.010 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 5.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 28th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 28th were issued a $1.19 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 28th. This represents a $4.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.7%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 97.34%.

Paychex Profile

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.