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

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 12,684 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,247,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PAYX. XXEC Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex in the 2nd quarter worth about $1,123,016,000. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Paychex in the second quarter worth approximately $2,728,970,000. Capital International Investors raised its stake in shares of Paychex by 59.1% in 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 last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in shares of Paychex in the second quarter valued at approximately $434,061,000. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its position in shares of Paychex by 4,141.2% during the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,409,229 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $270,267,000 after buying an additional 2,352,423 shares during the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of Paychex stock opened at $127.04 on Monday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $113.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $100.97. 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 12 month low of $85.45 and a 12 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.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $1.31 by $0.01. Paychex had a return on equity of 50.90% and a net margin of 27.03%.The business had revenue of $1.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.60 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.19 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. Paychex has set its FY 2027 guidance at 5.900-6.010 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 5.96 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on PAYX. Citigroup upped their price target on Paychex from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Paychex from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Paychex from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Monday, July 20th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Paychex from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating on shares of Paychex in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $109.20.

Insider Activity

In other Paychex news, Director Joseph M. Tucci sold 3,907 shares of Paychex 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 sale, 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 2,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief financial officer owned 18,547 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,134,574.23. The trade was a 12.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.