Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Makes New Investment in Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm bought 90,348 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $8,884,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in PAYX. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC raised its holdings in Paychex by 957.1% during the fourth 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 acquired a new stake in Paychex in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Kingdom Financial Group LLC. purchased a new stake in Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Leonteq Securities AG boosted its holdings in Paychex by 2,669.2% in the 1st quarter. Leonteq Securities AG now owns 360 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 347 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Acumen Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Paychex during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on PAYX shares. Citigroup raised their price target on Paychex from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Paychex from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Paychex from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Paychex from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Paychex from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. One 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. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $109.20.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $127.04 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $113.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $100.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.98 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.26. Paychex, Inc. has a 12 month low of $85.45 and a 12 month high of $139.53.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 24th. The business services provider reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 prior year, the firm posted $1.19 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Paychex has set its FY 2027 guidance at 5.900-6.010 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 5.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 2,600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.09, for a total value of $299,234.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 18,547 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,134,574.23. This represents a 12.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction, the director owned 67,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,618,513. This trade represents a 5.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

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.