Caxton Associates LLP Acquires New Stake in Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

Key Points

• Caxton Associates LLP purchased 6,906 shares of Paychex, valued at approximately $1,065,000, highlighting growing institutional interest in the company.
• During the first quarter, other investors significantly increased their stakes, with GAMMA Investing LLC boosting its holdings by 20,236.7% to own over 1.15 million shares.
• Paychex announced a quarterly dividend of $1.08 per share, with an annualized payout of $4.32 and a yield of 3.2%.

Caxton Associates LLP acquired a new stake 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 acquired 6,906 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,065,000.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of PAYX. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in Paychex by 26.3% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 5,710 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $801,000 after acquiring an additional 1,190 shares in the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Paychex by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 4,035 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $566,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth increased its position in shares of Paychex by 20.9% during the fourth quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 95,784 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $13,473,000 after acquiring an additional 16,546 shares during the last quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Paychex by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 67,778 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $9,504,000 after acquiring an additional 1,367 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Paychex by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 51,820 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $7,265,000 after acquiring an additional 3,276 shares during the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PAYX has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on Paychex in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. They set a "market perform" rating and a $160.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Paychex from $148.00 to $153.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Paychex from $150.00 to $148.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $165.00 target price on Paychex and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $140.00 target price on Paychex and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus price target of $149.70.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paychex

In other news, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 97,526 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.17, for a total value of $14,157,849.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman directly owned 446,917 shares in the company, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,370 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.92, for a total value of $1,755,550.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 81,755 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,602,669.60. This trade represents a 13.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Paychex Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PAYX traded down $0.35 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $135.11. The stock had a trading volume of 1,305,369 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,876,443. The stock has a market cap of $48.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.91. Paychex, Inc. has a 12-month low of $131.83 and a 12-month high of $161.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a current ratio of 1.28. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $140.44 and a 200 day simple moving average of $146.55.

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

Paychex Dividend Announcement

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

Paychex Company 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.