Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Makes New Investment in Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 95,156 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $9,357,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC increased its stake 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 buying an additional 268 shares during the period. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Paychex during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Kingdom Financial Group LLC. purchased a new position in Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Leonteq Securities AG grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 2,669.2% in the first quarter. Leonteq Securities AG now owns 360 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 347 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Acumen Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Paychex in the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Joseph M. Tucci sold 3,907 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 26th. The stock was 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 $6,618,513. The trade was a 5.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 2,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.09, for a total value of $299,234.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 18,547 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,134,574.23. This trade represents a 12.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Paychex Price Performance

Paychex stock opened at $127.34 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $114.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $101.17. The stock has a market cap of $45.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.04 and a beta of 0.81. Paychex, Inc. has a 12-month low of $85.45 and a 12-month high of $139.53.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 24th. The business services provider reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.31 by $0.01. The company 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%.Paychex’s quarterly revenue was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.19 earnings per share. Paychex has set its FY 2027 guidance at 5.900-6.010 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 5.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 28th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 28th were given a dividend of $1.19 per share. This represents a $4.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 28th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 97.34%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on PAYX. UBS Group increased 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. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Paychex from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. Weiss Ratings raised Paychex from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Monday, July 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Paychex from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on Paychex from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Paychex has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $109.20.

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.