Columbus Macro LLC Purchases New Holdings in Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

Columbus Macro LLC purchased a new position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor purchased 23,824 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,195,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in Paychex by 26.3% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 5,710 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $801,000 after buying an additional 1,190 shares during the period. Bison Wealth LLC raised its position in Paychex by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 4,035 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $566,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP purchased a new position in Paychex in the first quarter valued at about $3,333,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Paychex by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 41,081 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,976,000 after acquiring an additional 1,290 shares during the period. Finally, Sei Investments Co. grew its position in shares of Paychex by 47.1% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 156,680 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $22,790,000 after acquiring an additional 50,169 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Paychex this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Paychex beat fiscal Q4 estimates, reporting EPS of $1.32 versus $1.31 expected and revenue of $1.61 billion versus $1.60 billion expected, with revenue up 12.5% year over year. Paychex earnings report
• Positive Sentiment: Management highlighted growth drivers including Paycor synergies, stronger Management Solutions performance, and AI-related monetization efforts through WISE, which supports the longer-term growth story. Zacks earnings call takeaways
• Positive Sentiment: Several analysts framed the stock as more attractive after the pullback, noting Paychex has strong fundamentals and that fiscal 2027 looks “cleaner” after a noisy 2026. Benzinga analyst note
• Neutral Sentiment: JPMorgan raised its price target to $105 from $100 but kept an Underweight rating, signaling limited upside despite acknowledging the shares can rise from current levels. JPMorgan price target update
• Neutral Sentiment: Short-interest data showed essentially no shares sold short, so short selling does not appear to be a meaningful factor in the stock’s move.
• Negative Sentiment: Investors are reacting to fiscal 2027 guidance that points to slower growth than fiscal 2026, with revenue expected to grow 5% to 6% and EPS 7% to 9%, a deceleration after the recent double-digit expansion. Proactive Investors earnings outlook article
• Negative Sentiment: Some commentary also pointed to higher-than-expected expenses and a cautious outlook as reasons the stock slipped after earnings, even though the underlying results were strong. Seeking Alpha news

Paychex Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ PAYX opened at $96.72 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22. The company has a market cap of $34.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.78 and a beta of 0.84. Paychex, Inc. has a 52 week low of $85.45 and a 52 week high of $148.76. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $95.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $99.14.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. Paychex had a return on equity of 50.90% and a net margin of 27.03%.The firm had revenue of $1.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.60 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.19 earnings per share. The company’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. Research analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 5.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 13th were issued a dividend of $1.19 per share. This is a boost from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.08. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 13th. This represents a $4.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.9%. Paychex’s payout ratio is currently 104.85%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on PAYX shares. Argus raised shares of Paychex to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 27th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Paychex from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 26th. TD Cowen raised their target price on Paychex from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 8th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Paychex to $52.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Paychex from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Paychex currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $105.67.

Paychex Company 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.