Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH Raises Stock Position in Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH lifted its holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 4.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 343,109 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 13,524 shares during the period. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH’s holdings in Paychex were worth $31,607,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in PAYX. ABN AMRO Bank N.V. lifted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 37.1% in the 1st quarter. ABN AMRO Bank N.V. now owns 4,473 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $416,000 after acquiring an additional 1,210 shares during the last quarter. River Street Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Paychex during the first quarter worth approximately $259,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Paychex by 16.0% during the first quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,100 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $654,000 after purchasing an additional 978 shares during the period. Laurel Oak Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Paychex during the first quarter valued at approximately $291,000. Finally, Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 11.3% in the 1st quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC now owns 11,482 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,058,000 after purchasing an additional 1,170 shares during the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group cut their target price on Paychex from $100.00 to $98.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Paychex from $148.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Paychex to $52.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Paychex from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Paychex currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $105.67.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of PAYX stock opened at $99.90 on Monday. Paychex, Inc. has a 52-week low of $85.45 and a 52-week high of $148.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $35.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.43 and a beta of 0.84. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $95.62 and a 200 day moving average price of $99.05.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 24th. The business services provider reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.31 by $0.01. Paychex had a return on equity of 50.90% and a net margin of 27.03%.The company had revenue of $1.61 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.60 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.19 EPS. Paychex’s quarterly revenue was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. Paychex has set its FY 2027 guidance at 5.900-6.010 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 5.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 13th were issued a $1.19 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 13th. This is a boost from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.08. This represents a $4.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.8%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 97.34%.

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.