Nykredit A S Makes New Investment in Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

Nykredit A S purchased a new stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 135,489 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $13,323,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of PAYX. EFG International AG acquired a new position in Paychex during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,494,000. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Paychex during the 2nd quarter worth about $7,296,000. Western Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Paychex during the first quarter valued at about $1,174,000. Callan Family Office LLC acquired a new position in shares of Paychex during the second quarter valued at about $2,928,000. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 83.5% in the fourth quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 41,248 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,642,000 after buying an additional 18,764 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Joseph Tucci sold 3,907 shares of the 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 $6,618,513. This trade represents a 5.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Robert Schrader sold 2,600 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.09, for a total transaction of $299,234.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 18,547 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,134,574.23. This 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 corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on PAYX shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Paychex from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Weiss Ratings raised Paychex from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Monday, July 20th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Paychex from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Paychex from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on Paychex from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $111.00.

Paychex Trading Down 2.7%

PAYX stock opened at $121.71 on Friday. Paychex, Inc. has a 1-year low of $85.45 and a 1-year high of $138.19. 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 business’s 50 day moving average is $116.50 and its 200-day moving average is $101.96. The firm has a market cap of $43.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.82.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 24th. The business services provider reported $1.32 EPS 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 business had revenue of $1.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.60 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.19 EPS. Paychex’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 analysts anticipate 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. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 28th were paid a $1.19 dividend. This represents a $4.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 28th. Paychex’s payout ratio is currently 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.