Arkadios Wealth Advisors Increases Stake in Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

Arkadios Wealth Advisors lifted its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 9.8% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 59,259 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 5,285 shares during the period. Arkadios Wealth Advisors’ holdings in Paychex were worth $7,512,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Paychex by 6.0% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,384,846 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $637,820,000 after acquiring an additional 249,550 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in Paychex by 48.9% during the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,260,376 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $155,341,000 after purchasing an additional 414,196 shares during the last quarter. Aberdeen Group plc increased its holdings in shares of Paychex by 10.8% in the second quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 255,076 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $36,716,000 after purchasing an additional 24,820 shares during the period. Midwest Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Paychex in the second quarter valued at about $5,202,000. Finally, Tectonic Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Paychex by 18.1% in the third quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC now owns 67,903 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $8,607,000 after purchasing an additional 10,386 shares during the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Paychex Trading Down 3.4%

Shares of NASDAQ PAYX opened at $107.42 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.56 billion, a PE ratio of 24.36 and a beta of 0.91. Paychex, Inc. has a twelve month low of $107.31 and a twelve month high of $161.24. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $112.16 and a 200-day simple moving average of $125.69.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its earnings results on Friday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.55 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 46.38% and a net margin of 26.45%.Paychex’s revenue was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.14 EPS. Paychex has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.480-5.530 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 28th will be issued a dividend of $1.08 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 28th. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.0%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is 97.96%.

Paychex announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Friday, January 16th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the business services provider to repurchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PAYX has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Paychex from $128.00 to $116.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Paychex from $133.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 22nd. Citigroup cut their price target on Paychex from $139.00 to $120.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. TD Cowen decreased their price objective 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. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price target on Paychex from $150.00 to $125.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $125.67.

Paychex Company Profile

Paychex, Inc, founded in 1971 by B. Thomas “Tom” Golisano and headquartered in Rochester, New York, is a provider of payroll, human resources, and benefits outsourcing solutions for small- and medium-sized businesses. The company’s core services include payroll processing and tax filing, employee benefits administration, retirement services, and workers’ compensation administration, designed to simplify back-office operations and help clients comply with regulatory and tax requirements.

Paychex offers an integrated technology platform, marketed under the Paychex Flex brand, which delivers cloud-based payroll, HR, time and attendance, and reporting tools.