Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Purchases 13,981 Shares of Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 179.6% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 21,765 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 13,981 shares during the quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $2,721,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PAYX. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Paychex by 1.3% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 32,215,957 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,686,133,000 after buying an additional 408,114 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its position in Paychex by 2.6% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 14,066,067 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,046,050,000 after acquiring an additional 355,294 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,033,312 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,604,906,000 after acquiring an additional 251,139 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Paychex by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,183,871 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,481,053,000 after acquiring an additional 274,947 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Paychex by 6.0% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,384,846 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $637,820,000 after purchasing an additional 249,550 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Price Performance

PAYX stock opened at $111.18 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $112.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $125.97. Paychex, Inc. has a 52 week low of $107.80 and a 52 week high of $161.24. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.21 and a beta of 0.91.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its earnings results on Friday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.55 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 26.45% and a return on equity of 46.38%. The business’s revenue was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.14 EPS. Paychex has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.480-5.530 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 28th will be issued a $1.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 28th. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.9%. Paychex’s payout ratio is 97.96%.

Paychex announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Friday, January 16th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the business services provider to repurchase up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PAYX has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on Paychex from $153.00 to $148.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Jefferies Financial Group set a $110.00 price objective on Paychex in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Paychex from $150.00 to $125.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 5th. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Paychex from $140.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. Finally, Argus reduced their price objective on shares of Paychex from $150.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Paychex presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $125.67.

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.