Okabena Investment Services Inc. Acquires Shares of 3,500 Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

Key Points

• Okabena Investment Services Inc. acquired 3,500 shares of Paychex, Inc., valued at approximately $540,000, during the first quarter.
• Several large investors have also increased their stakes in Paychex, leading to a total of 83.47% of the stock being owned by hedge funds and institutional investors.
• Paychex announced a quarterly dividend of $1.08 per share, with a payout ratio of 94.53%, indicating strong return potential for shareholders.

Okabena Investment Services Inc. bought a new position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 3,500 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $540,000.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Paychex during the first quarter worth approximately $34,000. Alpine Bank Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Paychex in the 1st quarter valued at $34,000. Tsfg LLC increased its stake in shares of Paychex by 122.3% in the 1st quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 229 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 126 shares during the last quarter. HWG Holdings LP acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex in the 1st quarter worth $46,000. Finally, Olde Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Paychex during the 1st quarter worth $59,000. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on PAYX shares. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Paychex from $156.00 to $152.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 26th. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of Paychex in a report on Thursday, July 10th. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $160.00 target price on the stock. Barclays set a $155.00 price target on shares of Paychex and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Paychex from $150.00 to $148.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 27th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price objective on Paychex from $155.00 to $145.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Paychex presently has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $149.70.

Paychex Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ PAYX opened at $138.65 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10. The business's 50 day moving average is $142.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $147.56. Paychex, Inc. has a 52-week low of $128.92 and a 52-week high of $161.24. The firm has a market cap of $49.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.34, a PEG ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.91.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.38 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.01% and a net margin of 29.75%.During the same period last year, the business posted $1.12 earnings per share. Paychex has set its FY 2026 guidance at EPS. Research analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 21st will be given a $1.08 dividend. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 21st. Paychex's payout ratio is currently 94.53%.

Insider Transactions at Paychex

In other Paychex news, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 97,526 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.17, for a total transaction of $14,157,849.42. Following the sale, the chairman directly owned 446,917 shares in the company, valued at $64,878,940.89. This represents a 17.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,370 shares of the firm'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 transaction of $1,755,550.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 81,755 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,602,669.60. The trade was a 13.14% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 11.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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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