Fenimore Asset Management Inc Buys 5,268 Shares of Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

Key Points

• Fenimore Asset Management Inc increased its stake in Paychex, Inc. by 1.3%, purchasing an additional 5,268 shares, bringing its total ownership to approximately 0.12% of the company valued at $61.5 million.
• Paychex recently declared a quarterly dividend of $1.08 per share, reflecting a 3.5% yield and a payout ratio of 97.08%.
• Several analysts have downgraded Paychex's target price, with Jefferies setting a target of $130.00 and Wolfe Research reducing it from $145.00 to $140.00, indicating a shift toward more cautious market expectations.

Fenimore Asset Management Inc increased its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 1.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 422,697 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 5,268 shares during the quarter. Fenimore Asset Management Inc owned approximately 0.12% of Paychex worth $61,486,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of PAYX. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in Paychex by 4.5% in the second quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,890 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $566,000 after buying an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Joule Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 32.8% during the 2nd quarter. Joule Financial LLC now owns 1,861 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $271,000 after acquiring an additional 460 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in Paychex by 153.3% in the 2nd quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 50,020 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $7,276,000 after acquiring an additional 30,274 shares during the last quarter. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. raised its stake in Paychex by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. now owns 3,075 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $447,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares during the period. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Paychex by 0.9% during the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 65,411 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $9,515,000 after purchasing an additional 595 shares during the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on PAYX shares. Jefferies Financial Group set a $130.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research note on Tuesday, September 30th. Wolfe Research reduced their price objective on shares of Paychex from $145.00 to $140.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 26th. UBS Group dropped their target price on Paychex from $140.00 to $132.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on Paychex from $142.00 to $137.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on Paychex from $158.00 to $148.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Paychex has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $142.77.

Insider Activity at Paychex

In other Paychex news, CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,370 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 16th. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at $11,602,669.60. The trade was a 13.14% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 97,526 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owned 446,917 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $64,878,940.89. This trade represents a 17.91% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of Paychex stock opened at $124.61 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.27. Paychex, Inc. has a 52-week low of $119.02 and a 52-week high of $161.24. The company has a fifty day moving average of $135.66 and a 200-day moving average of $144.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.92.

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

Paychex Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 21st. Paychex's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 97.08%.

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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