Plato Investment Management Ltd Has $2.73 Million Stake in Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

Key Points

• Plato Investment Management Ltd reduced its stake in Paychex, Inc. by 13.7% in Q1, now holding 17,526 shares valued at approximately $2.73 million.
• Paychex recently declared a quarterly dividend of $1.08, resulting in an annualized yield of 3.2% with a payout ratio of 94.53%.
• Wall Street analysts have a consensus rating of “Reduce” on Paychex, with various price targets ranging from $140.00 to $165.00.

Plato Investment Management Ltd reduced its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 13.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,526 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 2,785 shares during the period. Plato Investment Management Ltd's holdings in Paychex were worth $2,733,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Alpine Bank Wealth Management acquired a new position in Paychex in the 1st quarter valued at $34,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Paychex in the first quarter valued at about $34,000. Quarry LP bought a new position in Paychex in the 1st quarter valued at about $34,000. Tsfg LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 during the period. Finally, HWG Holdings LP acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex during the 1st quarter worth approximately $46,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on PAYX. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Paychex from $155.00 to $145.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $165.00 price target on Paychex and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Paychex from $156.00 to $152.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Barclays set a $155.00 price objective on Paychex and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $140.00 target price on Paychex and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus price target of $149.70.

Paychex Trading Down 0.8%

PAYX opened at $134.41 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.28. Paychex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $129.20 and a fifty-two week high of $161.24. The company's 50 day moving average price is $141.16 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $146.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.41, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.91.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, June 25th. The business services provider reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.19. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.01% and a net margin of 29.75%.The firm had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.38 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.12 EPS. Paychex has set its FY 2026 guidance at EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share 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 paid a $1.08 dividend. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 21st. Paychex's payout ratio is 94.53%.

Insider Activity

In other 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 owned 446,917 shares in the company, valued at $64,878,940.89. The trade was a 17.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,370 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 81,755 shares of the company's stock, 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. 0.80% of the stock is currently 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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