40,100 Shares in Paychex, Inc. $PAYX Purchased by Louisiana State Employees Retirement System

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 40,100 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,694,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in shares of Paychex by 26.3% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 5,710 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $801,000 after acquiring an additional 1,190 shares during the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC raised its stake in Paychex by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 4,035 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $566,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP purchased a new stake in Paychex in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $3,333,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Paychex by 3.2% in the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 41,081 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,976,000 after buying an additional 1,290 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 47.1% in the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 156,680 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $22,790,000 after purchasing an additional 50,169 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of Paychex from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Paychex from $123.00 to $107.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Stephens cut their price objective on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $105.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. Finally, Argus raised Paychex to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $105.67.

Paychex Stock Up 3.3%

PAYX opened at $99.90 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $95.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $99.14. The firm has a market cap of $35.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.43 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.26. Paychex, Inc. has a twelve month low of $85.45 and a twelve month high of $148.76.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its 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 analyst estimates of $1.60 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.19 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. Paychex has set its FY 2027 guidance at 5.900-6.010 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 5.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 13th were given a dividend of $1.19 per share. This represents a $4.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.8%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 13th. This is a boost from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.08. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.