HighTower Advisors LLC Sells 20,505 Shares of Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

HighTower Advisors LLC cut its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 11.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 166,570 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 20,505 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $16,379,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. EFG International AG purchased a new stake in Paychex in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,494,000. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Paychex in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $7,296,000. Western Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Paychex in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,174,000. Callan Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Paychex during the second quarter valued at approximately $2,928,000. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its position in shares of Paychex by 83.5% during 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 acquiring an additional 18,764 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on PAYX shares. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Paychex from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating on shares of Paychex in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Paychex from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Paychex from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Paychex from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Monday, July 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $125.65.

Paychex Trading Down 1.9%

Shares of PAYX opened at $114.75 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $117.55 and a 200-day moving average price of $102.54. 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 fifty-two week low of $85.45 and a fifty-two week high of $135.97. The firm has a market cap of $40.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.47, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.82.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 24th. The business services provider reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 the consensus estimate of $1.60 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $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. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 5.96 earnings per share for the current 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 issued a $1.19 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 28th. This represents a $4.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.1%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 97.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paychex

In related news, CFO Robert Schrader sold 2,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 20th. The shares were 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 $2,134,574.23. This represents a 12.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Joseph Tucci sold 3,907 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.25, for a total transaction of $383,862.75. Following the sale, the director directly owned 67,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,618,513. The trade was a 5.48% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Paychex

Paychex, Inc is a provider of payroll, human resources, and workforce management solutions for businesses of varying sizes. Its offerings include payroll processing, tax administration, time and attendance tracking, employee benefits administration, retirement services, workers’ compensation and business insurance, recruiting, and compliance support.

The company also provides professional employer organization services, helping businesses manage employment administration and human resources through an integrated platform.