Drake & Associates LLC Buys 6,587 Shares of Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

Key Points

• Drake & Associates LLC increased its stake in Paychex, Inc. by 53.7% in Q2, acquiring an additional 6,587 shares, bringing their total holdings to 18,863 shares.
• Paychex recently reported earnings per share (EPS) of $1.22, surpassing analysts' expectations of $1.20, and forecasted FY 2026 EPS guidance between $5.428 and $5.528.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $1.08, yielding 3.5%, with a payout ratio of 97.08%.

Drake & Associates LLC boosted its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 53.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,863 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 6,587 shares during the period. Paychex comprises approximately 0.7% of Drake & Associates LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Drake & Associates LLC's holdings in Paychex were worth $2,744,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its stake 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 during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew 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 acquiring an additional 29,320 shares during the last quarter. Martin Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Paychex by 166.9% during the second quarter. Martin Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,340 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $922,000 after buying an additional 3,965 shares during the period. MWA Asset Management raised its stake in Paychex by 6.5% in the first quarter. MWA Asset Management now owns 4,269 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $659,000 after buying an additional 262 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new position in Paychex during the first quarter valued at $832,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Paychex news, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 97,526 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.17, for a total value of $14,157,849.42. Following the sale, the chairman owned 446,917 shares in the company, valued at $64,878,940.89. The trade was a 17.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,370 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 81,755 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,602,669.60. This trade represents a 13.14% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $165.00 target price on Paychex and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Wolfe Research lowered their target price on Paychex from $145.00 to $140.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 26th. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Paychex in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on Paychex from $140.00 to $126.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price objective on Paychex from $158.00 to $148.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $141.29.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of Paychex stock opened at $124.37 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $44.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.95, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $135.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $144.24. Paychex, Inc. has a 52 week low of $119.02 and a 52 week high of $161.24.

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

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 21st were issued a $1.08 dividend. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 21st. Paychex's payout ratio is 97.08%.

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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