Paychex, Inc. $PAYX Shares Acquired by Groupe la Francaise

Key Points

• Groupe la Francaise increased its stake in Paychex, Inc. by 15.7% during the 1st quarter, now holding a total of 25,922 shares, valued at approximately $3.94 million.
• Several hedge funds have also adjusted their positions in Paychex, with Brighton Jones LLC raising its stake by 26.3% during the 4th quarter, bringing new investments to light as institutional investors own 83.47% of the company's stock.
• Paychex plans to pay a quarterly dividend of $1.08, with a dividend yield of 3.1%, reflecting its strong financial position with a recent net margin of 29.75%.

Groupe la Francaise lifted its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 15.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 25,922 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 3,518 shares during the period. Groupe la Francaise's holdings in Paychex were worth $3,936,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Alpine Bank Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Paychex in the first quarter valued at about $34,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Paychex in the first quarter valued at about $34,000. Tsfg LLC lifted its position in Paychex by 122.3% in the first quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 229 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares during the period. HWG Holdings LP acquired a new stake in Paychex in the first quarter valued at about $46,000. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. lifted its position in Paychex by 381.2% in the fourth quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 409 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 324 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insider Transactions at Paychex

In other news, CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,370 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.92, for a total value of $1,755,550.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 81,755 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,602,669.60. This represents a 13.14% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 97,526 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.17, for a total transaction of $14,157,849.42. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman directly owned 446,917 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $64,878,940.89. This represents a 17.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 11.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Paychex Trading Up 0.0%

NASDAQ PAYX traded up $0.04 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $138.69. 1,675,817 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,150,129. Paychex, Inc. has a 1-year low of $128.92 and a 1-year high of $161.24. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $142.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $147.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $49.96 billion, a PE ratio of 30.35, a PEG ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a current ratio of 1.28.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 25th. The business services provider reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.19. The company 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 last year, the business earned $1.12 EPS. Paychex has set its FY 2026 guidance at EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Monday, July 21st will be paid a $1.08 dividend. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 21st. Paychex's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 94.53%.

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.