Amundi Cuts Stock Holdings in Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

Key Points

• Amundi has reduced its stake in Paychex, Inc. by 32.8%, selling 503,378 shares, leaving it with 1,030,767 shares valued at approximately $158.25 million.
• Other hedge funds increased their holdings in Paychex, with Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raising its stake by 118.5% in the same quarter.
• Chairman Martin Mucci and CEO John B. Gibson each sold a significant amount of stock, representing decreases in their positions of 17.91% and 13.14%, respectively.

Amundi cut its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 32.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,030,767 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 503,378 shares during the period. Amundi owned 0.29% of Paychex worth $158,255,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in PAYX. Summit Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 2.4% in the first quarter. Summit Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,027 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $467,000 after buying an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. LGT Group Foundation lifted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 2.8% in the first quarter. LGT Group Foundation now owns 2,528 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $390,000 after buying an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Equity Partners lifted its stake in Paychex by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 7,623 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,176,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Paychex by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,192 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $492,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Finally, King Wealth Management Group lifted its stake in Paychex by 4.7% in the 1st quarter. King Wealth Management Group now owns 1,669 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $257,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Citigroup decreased their target price on Paychex from $158.00 to $148.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on 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 Paychex and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Paychex from $148.00 to $153.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of Paychex in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. They set a "market perform" rating and a $160.00 price target on the stock. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus price target of $149.70.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,370 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 97,526 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chairman directly owned 446,917 shares of the company's stock, valued at $64,878,940.89. This represents a 17.91% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.80% of the company's stock.

Paychex Trading Down 0.5%

Paychex stock traded down $0.72 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $133.69. The stock had a trading volume of 364,095 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,129,577. The company has a quick ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10. Paychex, Inc. has a 52-week low of $129.20 and a 52-week high of $161.24. The firm has a market cap of $48.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a fifty day moving average of $141.16 and a 200 day moving average of $146.86.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 25th. The business services provider reported $1.19 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.38 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.12 EPS. Paychex has set its FY 2026 guidance at EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.