Concentric Capital Strategies LP Purchases New Stake in Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

Key Points

• Concentric Capital Strategies LP acquired 14,107 shares of Paychex, Inc. valued at approximately $2.18 million in the first quarter of the year.
• Several large investors, including Alpine Bank Wealth Management and MorganRosel Wealth Management, made new investments in Paychex during the same period, indicating strong institutional interest in the stock.
• Paychex announced a quarterly dividend of $1.08, resulting in an annualized yield of 3.2%, with a payout ratio of 94.53%.

Concentric Capital Strategies LP bought a new position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 14,107 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,176,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of PAYX. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Paychex by 20,236.7% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,153,089 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $177,899,000 after buying an additional 1,147,419 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Paychex during the 1st quarter worth approximately $134,192,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Paychex by 7.3% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,782,173 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,663,474,000 after buying an additional 737,542 shares during the period. Neuberger Berman Group LLC raised its holdings in Paychex by 117.6% during the 1st quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 1,217,092 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $187,512,000 after buying an additional 657,871 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in Paychex by 25.7% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,844,949 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $438,919,000 after buying an additional 581,410 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Paychex from $156.00 to $152.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $148.00 to $153.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Paychex from $150.00 to $148.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 27th. Barclays set a $155.00 price objective on shares of Paychex and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $140.00 target price on shares of Paychex and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $149.70.

Insider Transactions at Paychex

In other news, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 97,526 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.17, for a total value of $14,157,849.42. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman owned 446,917 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $64,878,940.89. The trade was a 17.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,370 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.92, for a total transaction of $1,755,550.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 81,755 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,602,669.60. The trade was a 13.14% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 11.40% of the company's stock.

Paychex Stock Performance

PAYX stock traded down $0.65 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $134.78. 517,634 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,135,071. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.28. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $141.42 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $146.94. Paychex, Inc. has a one year low of $129.20 and a one year high of $161.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.91.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 25th. The business services provider reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.19. Paychex had a net margin of 29.75% and a return on equity of 45.01%. The firm had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.38 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.12 earnings per share. Paychex has set its FY 2026 guidance at EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 21st were given a $1.08 dividend. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 21st. Paychex's payout ratio is presently 94.53%.

Paychex Profile

Paychex, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides integrated human capital management solutions (HCM) for payroll, benefits, human resources (HR), and insurance services for small to medium-sized businesses in the United States, Europe, and India. It offers payroll processing services; payroll tax administration services; employee payment services; and regulatory compliance services, such as new-hire reporting and garnishment processing.