Paychex, Inc. $PAYX Shares Bought by Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management

Key Points

• Empirical Wealth Management increased its holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 7.2%, acquiring an additional 4,852 shares during the 2nd quarter, bringing its total to 72,087 shares worth approximately $10.5 million.
• Notable insider transactions include Chairman Martin Mucci selling 97,526 shares and CEO John B. Gibson selling 12,370 shares, indicating a reduction in their holdings by 17.91% and 13.14%, respectively.
• Paychex recently reported a quarterly EPS of $1.22, surpassing estimates, and declared a dividend of $1.08 per share, reflecting a 3.5% yield with a high payout ratio of 97.08%.

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 7.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 72,087 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 4,852 shares during the period. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management's holdings in Paychex were worth $10,486,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in PAYX. Alpine Bank Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex during the first quarter worth about $34,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex during the first quarter worth about $34,000. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex during the first quarter worth about $34,000. Tsfg LLC boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 122.3% during the first quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 229 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 126 shares during the period. Finally, Nova Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex during the first quarter worth about $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paychex

In related news, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 97,526 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction on 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 owned 446,917 shares of the company's stock, valued at $64,878,940.89. The trade was a 17.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,370 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 81,755 shares in the company, valued at $11,602,669.60. This trade represents a 13.14% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.80% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Paychex from $153.00 to $148.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Barclays set a $155.00 price target on shares of Paychex and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. TD Cowen cut their price target on shares of Paychex from $140.00 to $126.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group set a $130.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a report on Tuesday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Paychex from $143.00 to $140.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Paychex currently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $142.83.

Paychex Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $123.42 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The company has a market cap of $44.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.92. Paychex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $119.02 and a fifty-two week high of $161.24. The firm's 50 day moving average is $136.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $144.55.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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. Paychex had a net margin of 27.85% and a return on equity of 45.17%. The business had revenue of $1.54 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.16 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Paychex has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.428-5.528 EPS. Analysts expect 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. Investors of record on Monday, July 21st were paid a dividend of $1.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 21st. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. Paychex's payout ratio is 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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