Paychex, Inc. $PAYX is Palmer Knight Co’s 5th Largest Position

Palmer Knight Co trimmed its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 0.2% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 62,547 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 154 shares during the quarter. Paychex accounts for 3.9% of Palmer Knight Co’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Palmer Knight Co’s holdings in Paychex were worth $9,098,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Summit Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in Paychex by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Summit Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,027 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $467,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the period. LGT Group Foundation lifted its position in Paychex by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. LGT Group Foundation now owns 2,528 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $390,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the period. Golden State Equity Partners lifted its position in Paychex by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 7,623 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,176,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the period. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Paychex by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,192 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $492,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the period. Finally, King Wealth Management Group lifted its position in Paychex by 4.7% during the 1st quarter. King Wealth Management Group now owns 1,669 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $257,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on PAYX. Argus lowered their price target on shares of Paychex from $170.00 to $150.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of Paychex from $143.00 to $140.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. TD Cowen lowered their price target on shares of Paychex from $140.00 to $126.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Wolfe Research decreased their target price on shares of Paychex from $145.00 to $140.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Paychex from $148.00 to $132.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $141.29.

Paychex Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of Paychex stock opened at $126.56 on Friday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $45.55 billion, a PE ratio of 28.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.92. Paychex, Inc. has a 52-week low of $119.02 and a 52-week high of $161.24. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $132.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $142.78.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, September 30th. The business services provider reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.02. Paychex had a net margin of 27.85% and a return on equity of 45.17%. The business had revenue of $1.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.54 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.16 earnings per share. The business’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, analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 7th will be paid a $1.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 7th. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. Paychex’s payout ratio is currently 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.