Legal & General Group Plc Acquires Shares of 2,107,031 Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 2,107,031 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $207,184,000. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 0.59% of Paychex as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. XXEC Inc. acquired a new stake in Paychex in the second quarter valued at $1,123,016,000. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Paychex during the 2nd quarter worth $2,728,970,000. Capital International Investors grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 59.1% during the 4th 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. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Paychex by 4,141.2% in the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,409,229 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $270,267,000 after purchasing an additional 2,352,423 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex in the fourth quarter valued at about $257,699,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating on shares of Paychex in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Paychex from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Paychex from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Paychex from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Paychex has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $109.20.

Insider Activity at Paychex

In other Paychex news, Director Joseph M. Tucci sold 3,907 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 26th. The shares were 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 2,600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.09, for a total value of $299,234.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 18,547 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,134,574.23. This represents a 12.29% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of PAYX opened at $124.88 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.54 and a beta of 0.81. Paychex, Inc. has a twelve month low of $85.45 and a twelve month high of $139.53. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $112.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $100.57.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its earnings results 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 business had revenue of $1.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.60 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 50.90% and a net margin of 27.03%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.19 EPS. Paychex has set its FY 2027 guidance at 5.900-6.010 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 5.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 28th will be paid a dividend of $1.19 per share. This represents a $4.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 28th. Paychex’s 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.