Paychex, Inc. $PAYX Shares Acquired by Swedbank AB

Key Points

• Swedbank AB increased its stake in Paychex, Inc. by 24.8%, acquiring an additional 39,516 shares for a total of 199,106 shares valued at approximately $28.96 million.
• Paychex reported a quarterly EPS of $1.19, matching analyst estimates, with revenue reaching $1.43 billion, exceeding expectations of $1.38 billion.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $1.08 per share, yielding 3.3%, and has a payout ratio of 94.53% as of the last filing.

Swedbank AB raised its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 24.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 199,106 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 39,516 shares during the quarter. Swedbank AB owned approximately 0.06% of Paychex worth $28,962,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Secure Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Paychex by 3.0% in the second quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 3,912 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $569,000 after buying an additional 114 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its stake in shares of Paychex by 2.5% during the second quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 39,014 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $5,675,000 after purchasing an additional 965 shares during the last quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. raised its stake in shares of Paychex by 3.4% during the second quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. now owns 2,305 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $335,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC raised its stake in shares of Paychex by 0.4% during the second quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 33,498 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $4,873,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Taylor Hoffman Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Paychex by 1.8% during the second quarter. Taylor Hoffman Capital Management LLC now owns 40,123 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $5,836,000 after purchasing an additional 728 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on PAYX. Jefferies Financial Group set a $140.00 price target on Paychex and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Paychex from $150.00 to $148.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Paychex from $156.00 to $152.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on Paychex in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $160.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on Paychex from $158.00 to $148.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $149.20.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of PAYX traded down $1.11 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $130.00. 7,782,862 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,041,126. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $46.75 billion, a PE ratio of 28.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.91. Paychex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $129.33 and a fifty-two week high of $161.24. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $139.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $145.83.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 25th. The business services provider reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $1.38 billion. During the same period last year, the company 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 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 21st. Paychex's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 94.53%.

Insider Transactions at Paychex

In related news, CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,370 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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 transaction, the chairman directly owned 446,917 shares in the company, valued at $64,878,940.89. This trade represents a 17.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Paychex

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.