8,531 Shares in Paychex, Inc. $PAYX Purchased by Redwood Investment Management LLC

Redwood Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 8,531 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $839,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC increased its holdings in Paychex by 957.1% during the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 296 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares in the last quarter. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Paychex in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Kingdom Financial Group LLC. bought a new position in shares of Paychex in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Leonteq Securities AG boosted its position in shares of Paychex by 2,669.2% during the first quarter. Leonteq Securities AG now owns 360 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 347 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Acumen Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Paychex during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Paychex

In related 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 transaction of $383,862.75. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 67,364 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,618,513. This trade represents a 5.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 2,600 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.09, for a total transaction of $299,234.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 18,547 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,134,574.23. This represents a 12.29% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on PAYX shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “underweight” rating and set a $107.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a report on Monday, July 20th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Paychex from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating on shares of Paychex in a report on Thursday, May 28th. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Paychex from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Paychex from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. 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 MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $109.20.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of PAYX opened at $126.48 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $113.19 and a 200 day moving average of $100.77. The company has a market capitalization of $44.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.87 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. The business had revenue of $1.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.60 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 50.90% and a net margin of 27.03%.The business’s revenue was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.19 earnings per share. Paychex has set its FY 2027 guidance at 5.900-6.010 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 5.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 28th will be issued a $1.19 dividend. This represents a $4.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 28th. Paychex’s payout ratio is 97.34%.

Paychex 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.