Paychex, Inc. $PAYX Stock Bought by Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY

Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY raised its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 2.5% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 516,109 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 12,486 shares during the quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY’s holdings in Paychex were worth $50,837,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Hourglass Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $5,776,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 11,684 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,151,000 after acquiring an additional 229 shares in the last quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of Paychex by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp now owns 14,099 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,389,000 after acquiring an additional 359 shares during the period. Rockland Trust Co. grew its holdings in shares of Paychex by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 13,293 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,309,000 after acquiring an additional 792 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Paychex by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 14,411,341 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,417,067,000 after acquiring an additional 361,713 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Paychex

In related news, Director Joseph Velli sold 7,839 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.68, for a total value of $844,103.52. Following the sale, the director owned 81,725 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,800,148. This represents a 8.75% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on PAYX. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $130.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research note on Thursday, September 24th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Paychex from $95.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 9th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Paychex from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Paychex in a report on Thursday, September 17th. Finally, Stephens dropped their price target on Paychex from $132.00 to $113.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Paychex presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $127.59.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of PAYX opened at $115.70 on Tuesday. Paychex, Inc. has a 12-month low of $85.45 and a 12-month high of $127.98. The stock has a market cap of $41.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.96, a PEG ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23. The company has a 50-day moving average of $113.83 and a two-hundred day moving average of $103.64.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.63 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 27.35% and a return on equity of 52.78%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.22 earnings per share. Paychex has set its FY 2027 guidance at 5.896-6.006 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 5.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 25th. Investors of record on Monday, October 26th will be given a dividend of $1.19 per share. This represents a $4.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 26th. Paychex’s payout ratio is currently 94.44%.

Paychex Profile

Paychex, Inc provides payroll, human resources and employee-benefits solutions to small and medium-sized businesses. Its offerings include payroll processing, tax administration, time and attendance management, recruiting, onboarding, human resources administration, compliance support and employee benefits services.

The company also provides retirement-plan services, insurance solutions and professional employer organization services. Through its software and outsourced services, Paychex helps employers manage workforce administration, employee data and regulatory requirements.

Paychex was founded in 1971 by B.