Paychex, Inc. $PAYX Stake Cut by California Public Employees Retirement System

California Public Employees Retirement System cut its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 14.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,226,661 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 215,044 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Paychex were worth $178,430,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 1.3% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 32,215,957 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,686,133,000 after purchasing an additional 408,114 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Paychex by 2.3% during the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,033,312 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,604,906,000 after purchasing an additional 251,139 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Paychex by 2.8% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,183,871 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,481,053,000 after purchasing an additional 274,947 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Paychex by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,989,182 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $769,731,000 after buying an additional 181,628 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Paychex by 6.0% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,384,846 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $637,820,000 after buying an additional 249,550 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PAYX has been the topic of several research analyst reports. TD Cowen lowered their price target on shares of Paychex from $126.00 to $114.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 1st. Citigroup initiated coverage on Paychex in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $139.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their target price on Paychex from $150.00 to $125.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Paychex from $143.00 to $140.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Paychex from $153.00 to $148.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $135.60.

Paychex Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $112.06 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.33 billion, a PE ratio of 25.18 and a beta of 0.91. Paychex, Inc. has a 1 year low of $108.00 and a 1 year high of $161.24. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $118.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $134.66.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted 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 company had revenue of $1.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.54 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.16 earnings per share. The business’s revenue 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 fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 26th. Investors of record on Friday, November 7th were paid a $1.08 dividend. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 7th. 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.