Paychex, Inc. $PAYX Shares Purchased by Merit Financial Group LLC

Key Points

• Merit Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Paychex, Inc. by 153.3%, owning 50,020 shares valued at approximately $7,276,000 as per the latest SEC filing.
• CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,370 shares of Paychex, reflecting a 13.14% decrease in his ownership, while Chairman Martin Mucci sold 97,526 shares, decreasing his position by 17.91%.
• Paychex reported $1.22 EPS for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations, and recently declared a quarterly dividend of $1.08 per share, with a yield of 3.5%.

Merit Financial Group LLC increased its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 153.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 50,020 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 30,274 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC's holdings in Paychex were worth $7,276,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Alpine Bank Wealth Management acquired a new position in Paychex during the first quarter valued at approximately $34,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex in the first quarter valued at about $34,000. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Paychex during the 1st quarter valued at about $34,000. Tsfg LLC lifted its position in Paychex by 122.3% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Nova Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Paychex during the 1st quarter worth approximately $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on PAYX shares. Barclays set a $155.00 price objective on shares of Paychex and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Paychex from $148.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $130.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. Argus dropped their target price on Paychex from $170.00 to $150.00 in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Paychex in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Paychex presently has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus price target of $142.77.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,370 shares of the 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 transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction 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 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 value of $14,157,849.42. Following the sale, the chairman directly owned 446,917 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,878,940.89. The trade was a 17.91% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the company's stock.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PAYX opened at $124.61 on Monday. Paychex, Inc. has a 12-month low of $119.02 and a 12-month high of $161.24. The company has a market cap of $44.85 billion, a PE ratio of 28.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.92. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $135.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $144.37. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, September 30th. The business services provider reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.02. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.17% and a net margin of 27.85%.The firm had revenue of $1.54 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.54 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.16 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 16.8% on a year-over-year basis. Paychex has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.428-5.528 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 21st were given 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 was Monday, July 21st. 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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