AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs Purchases Shares of 12,664 Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

Key Points

• AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs acquired a new stake in Paychex, purchasing 12,664 shares valued at approximately $2,000,000 in the first quarter.
• Paychex reported a net margin of 29.75% and achieved $1.43 billion in revenue for the quarter, surpassing analyst estimates of $1.38 billion.
• CEO John B. Gibson and Chairman Martin Mucci both sold shares of Paychex, with Gibson selling 12,370 shares and Mucci selling 97,526 shares, indicating decreased ownership stakes.

AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs purchased a new stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 12,664 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,000,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its position in Paychex by 118.5% in the 1st quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 136,876 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $21,117,000 after buying an additional 74,245 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 32.6% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 119,291 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $18,404,000 after purchasing an additional 29,320 shares in the last quarter. MWA Asset Management raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 6.5% in the 1st quarter. MWA Asset Management now owns 4,269 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $659,000 after purchasing an additional 262 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 15.1% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,419 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $990,000 after purchasing an additional 843 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 7.1% in the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,607 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,174,000 after purchasing an additional 502 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company's stock.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $135.11 on Friday. The company's fifty day moving average price is $140.44 and its 200 day moving average price is $146.55. 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 current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.56, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.91.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 25th. The business services provider reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.38 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.12 EPS. Paychex has set its FY 2026 guidance at EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on PAYX. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Paychex from $155.00 to $145.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Paychex from $158.00 to $148.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised 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 reduced 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. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $165.00 price objective on shares of Paychex and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Paychex has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $149.70.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Paychex news, 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 directly owned 81,755 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,602,669.60. The trade was a 13.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 97,526 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.17, for a total transaction of $14,157,849.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman owned 446,917 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,878,940.89. This represents a 17.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.80% of the company's stock.

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.

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