Costello Asset Management INC Lowers Stock Position in Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

Key Points

• Costello Asset Management INC significantly reduced its stake in Paychex, Inc. by 77.1% during Q2, now holding 2,294 shares worth approximately $334,000.
• Analysts have lowered their price targets for Paychex, with TD Cowen setting a new target of $126.00 and a "hold" rating, indicating a shift in market expectations.
• Paychex announced a quarterly dividend of $1.08 per share, which will be paid on November 26th, reflecting a dividend yield of 3.5%.

Costello Asset Management INC reduced its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 77.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,294 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 7,705 shares during the period. Costello Asset Management INC's holdings in Paychex were worth $334,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its holdings 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 worth $21,117,000 after purchasing an additional 74,245 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in 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 worth $18,404,000 after purchasing an additional 29,320 shares in the last quarter. Martin Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Paychex by 166.9% in the 2nd quarter. Martin Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,340 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $922,000 after purchasing an additional 3,965 shares in the last quarter. MWA Asset Management lifted its holdings in Paychex by 6.5% in the 1st quarter. MWA Asset Management now owns 4,269 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $659,000 after purchasing an additional 262 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new position in Paychex in the 1st quarter worth approximately $832,000. 83.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PAYX has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. TD Cowen lowered their price target on Paychex from $140.00 to $126.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Jefferies Financial Group set a $130.00 price target on Paychex in a report on Tuesday, September 30th. Citigroup lowered their price target on Paychex from $158.00 to $148.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Barclays set a $155.00 price target on Paychex and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on Paychex from $142.00 to $137.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $141.29.

Paychex Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of PAYX opened at $125.21 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.92. Paychex, Inc. has a 1 year low of $119.02 and a 1 year high of $161.24. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $134.05 and its 200-day simple moving average is $143.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.27.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, September 30th. The business services provider reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.54 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.54 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.17% and a net margin of 27.85%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.16 EPS. Paychex has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.428-5.528 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 7th will be given a dividend of $1.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 7th. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. Paychex's payout ratio is currently 97.08%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paychex

In other news, CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,370 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.92, for a total transaction of $1,755,550.40. Following the transaction, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the company's stock.

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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