Kodai Capital Management LP Acquires New Stake in Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

Key Points

• Kodai Capital Management LP invested approximately $17.69 million in Paychex, acquiring 114,657 shares during the first quarter of 2023.
• Significant institutional investors, including GAMMA Investing LLC and Nuveen LLC, have also made large acquisitions of Paychex shares recently, indicating strong institutional interest with hedge funds and institutional investors owning 83.47% of the company’s stock.
• Paychex recently announced a quarterly dividend of $1.08 per share, representing an annualized dividend of $4.32 and a yield of 3.1%.

Kodai Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 114,657 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $17,689,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in PAYX. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in Paychex by 26.3% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 5,710 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $801,000 after buying an additional 1,190 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new stake in Paychex during the 4th quarter worth approximately $227,000. Lido Advisors LLC raised its position in Paychex by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 7,188 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,008,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in Paychex by 6.7% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 243,574 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $34,154,000 after purchasing an additional 15,221 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC bought a new position in Paychex during the 4th quarter worth $971,000. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Paychex Stock Up 0.5%

Paychex stock traded up $0.74 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $139.46. The stock had a trading volume of 1,715,827 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,113,667. Paychex, Inc. has a 12 month low of $128.92 and a 12 month high of $161.24. The company has a market capitalization of $50.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.52, a PEG ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $142.48 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $147.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10.

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

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 21st were issued a dividend of $1.08 per share. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 21st. Paychex's payout ratio is currently 94.53%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on PAYX shares. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Paychex from $156.00 to $152.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $140.00 target price on Paychex and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Citigroup lowered their target price on Paychex from $158.00 to $148.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Paychex from $148.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $165.00 target price on Paychex and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $149.70.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Paychex news, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 97,526 shares of the business'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. The trade was a 17.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, 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 value of $1,755,550.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 81,755 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,602,669.60. This represents a 13.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 11.40% 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.