Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. Buys 193,200 Shares of Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

Key Points

• Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. significantly increased its stake in Paychex, buying an additional 193,200 shares, raising their ownership to approximately 367,446 shares valued at $56.69 million.
• Multiple institutional investors, including GAMMA Investing LLC and Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc., have also made substantial increases in their holdings of Paychex, leading to a total institutional ownership of 83.47%.
• Paychex announced a quarterly dividend of $1.08 per share, providing an annualized yield of 3.2%, while its payout ratio stands at 94.53%.

Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. boosted its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 110.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 367,446 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 193,200 shares during the period. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. owned approximately 0.10% of Paychex worth $56,690,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PAYX. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position 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 valued at $177,899,000 after buying an additional 1,147,419 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Paychex in the 1st quarter worth $134,192,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Paychex by 7.3% in 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 purchasing an additional 737,542 shares in the last quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Paychex by 117.6% in 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 purchasing an additional 657,871 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Paychex by 25.7% in 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 purchasing an additional 581,410 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PAYX has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $165.00 target price on Paychex and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $140.00 target price on Paychex and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Paychex from $150.00 to $148.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 27th. Citigroup cut their price objective on Paychex from $158.00 to $148.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, UBS Group cut their price objective on Paychex from $155.00 to $145.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $149.70.

Paychex Price Performance

NASDAQ PAYX opened at $135.96 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $48.98 billion, a PE ratio of 29.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.91. 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 business's fifty day moving average is $141.91 and its 200 day moving average is $147.32. Paychex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $128.92 and a fifty-two week high of $161.24.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last released its 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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. Sell-side analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Paychex

In related 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 transaction of $14,157,849.42. Following 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 81,755 shares in the company, valued at $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. 11.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Paychex

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.

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