BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. Decreases Position in Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. decreased its holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 71.4% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 183,732 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 458,196 shares during the quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $23,006,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of PAYX. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Paychex by 17.2% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,765,468 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,787,151,000 after purchasing an additional 5,549,511 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Paychex in the 2nd quarter valued at about $302,244,000. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 179.5% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,078,328 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $156,854,000 after buying an additional 692,533 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 29.2% in the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,542,901 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $369,901,000 after buying an additional 574,337 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in shares of Paychex by 209.1% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 838,679 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $106,311,000 after buying an additional 567,352 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on PAYX. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Paychex to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Paychex from $140.00 to $125.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 22nd. Wolfe Research decreased their price objective on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $115.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Stephens lowered their target price on shares of Paychex from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Finally, TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating on shares of Paychex in a research note on Monday, December 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Paychex has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $123.94.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of PAYX opened at $92.34 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.27. Paychex, Inc. has a 1-year low of $91.70 and a 1-year high of $161.24. The stock has a market cap of $33.15 billion, a PE ratio of 20.94 and a beta of 0.90. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $106.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $119.08.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. Paychex had a return on equity of 46.38% and a net margin of 26.45%.The company had revenue of $1.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.55 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.14 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Paychex has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.480-5.530 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Friday, January 16th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the business services provider to purchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 28th will be given a dividend of $1.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 28th. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.7%. Paychex’s payout ratio is 97.96%.

About Paychex

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.