CHICAGO TRUST Co NA Has $1.10 Million Stock Position in Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

CHICAGO TRUST Co NA raised its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 170.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,963 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 7,544 shares during the quarter. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA’s holdings in Paychex were worth $1,102,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of PAYX. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Paychex by 12.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,348,625 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,750,669,000 after purchasing an additional 4,583,157 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its holdings 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. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Paychex by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,988,393 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,569,218,000 after purchasing an additional 216,045 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Paychex by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,550,173 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,295,698,000 after buying an additional 263,152 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,705,424 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,093,958,000 after buying an additional 78,760 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Paychex

In other news, Director Joseph M. Tucci sold 3,907 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the director owned 67,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,618,513. This trade represents a 5.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Stephens cut their price target on Paychex from $125.00 to $105.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 26th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Paychex to $52.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Paychex from $148.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of Paychex from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. Finally, Citigroup raised shares of Paychex from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $99.00 to $140.00 in a report on Monday, June 15th. One 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 assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $105.80.

Paychex Trading Up 4.5%

PAYX stock opened at $102.71 on Thursday. Paychex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $85.45 and a fifty-two week high of $148.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $36.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.00 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.26. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $96.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $98.77.

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

Paychex Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 13th were paid a dividend of $1.19 per share. This represents a $4.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.6%. This is a boost from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.08. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 13th. 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.