Paychex, Inc. $PAYX Holdings Decreased by J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG

Key Points

• J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG reduced its holdings in Paychex, Inc. by 48.4% during the second quarter, now owning 11,626 shares valued at approximately $1.69 million.
• Institutional investors hold 83.47% of Paychex stock, with several firms like Select Equity Group L.P. and Neuberger Berman Group LLC significantly increasing their positions in the first quarter.
• Paychex declared a quarterly dividend of $1.08 per share, leading to a 3.5% dividend yield with a payout ratio of 97.08%.

J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG trimmed its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 48.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 11,626 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 10,902 shares during the period. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG's holdings in Paychex were worth $1,691,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in PAYX. Select Equity Group L.P. increased its position in Paychex by 99.0% in the 1st quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 3,494,312 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $539,102,000 after acquiring an additional 1,738,372 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Paychex in the 1st quarter worth $134,192,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Paychex by 7.3% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,782,173 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,663,474,000 after acquiring an additional 737,542 shares during the last quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC increased its stake in Paychex by 117.6% in the 1st quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 1,217,092 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $187,512,000 after purchasing an additional 657,871 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in Paychex by 25.7% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,844,949 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $438,919,000 after buying an additional 581,410 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 97,526 shares of the company'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 transaction, the chairman owned 446,917 shares in the company, valued at $64,878,940.89. This 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 insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PAYX has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $165.00 price objective on shares of Paychex and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of Paychex from $143.00 to $140.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Paychex from $140.00 to $132.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Wolfe Research reduced their target price on Paychex from $145.00 to $140.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 26th. Finally, Barclays set a $155.00 target price on shares of Paychex and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Paychex presently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $142.77.

Paychex Stock Up 1.0%

PAYX stock opened at $124.61 on Friday. Paychex, Inc. has a 1-year low of $119.02 and a 1-year high of $161.24. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $135.66 and its 200 day simple moving average is $144.39. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.85 billion, a PE ratio of 28.00, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.92.

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

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 21st were paid a dividend of $1.08 per share. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 21st. Paychex's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 97.08%.

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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