Great Lakes Advisors LLC Lowers Stake in Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

Key Points

• Great Lakes Advisors LLC significantly reduced its stake in Paychex, Inc. by 93.5% in Q1, selling 24,352 shares to own only 1,691 shares valued at $261,000.
• In contrast, several other institutional investors, including Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. and Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC, increased their positions in Paychex, demonstrating varying sentiment among investors.
• Paychex reported earnings of $1.19 EPS for the recent quarter, meeting analysts' expectations, with a notable revenue of $1.43 billion, surpassing estimates of $1.38 billion.

Great Lakes Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 93.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,691 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 24,352 shares during the quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC's holdings in Paychex were worth $261,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in PAYX. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its position in shares of Paychex by 118.5% in the first 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 acquiring an additional 74,245 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of Paychex by 32.6% in the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 119,291 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $18,404,000 after acquiring an additional 29,320 shares during the period. MWA Asset Management increased its position in shares of Paychex by 6.5% in the first quarter. MWA Asset Management now owns 4,269 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $659,000 after acquiring an additional 262 shares during the period. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Paychex by 15.1% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,419 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $990,000 after acquiring an additional 843 shares during the period. Finally, Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Paychex by 7.1% in the first quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,607 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,174,000 after acquiring an additional 502 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Paychex Trading Down 0.3%

NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $135.11 on Friday. Paychex, Inc. has a one year low of $131.83 and a one year 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 company's 50-day simple moving average is $140.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $146.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.56, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.91.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 25th. The business services provider reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.19. The business had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.38 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 29.75% and a return on equity of 45.01%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.12 earnings per share. Paychex has set its FY 2026 guidance at EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Paychex

In other news, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 97,526 shares of the company's 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 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,370 shares of the company'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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 81,755 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,602,669.60. This represents a 13.14% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of Paychex in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $160.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Paychex from $150.00 to $148.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Paychex from $156.00 to $152.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $140.00 target price on shares of Paychex and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Paychex from $155.00 to $145.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $149.70.

Paychex 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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