Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund Boosts Holdings in Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund raised its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 65.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 140,945 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 55,900 shares during the period. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund’s holdings in Paychex were worth $12,984,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Paychex by 12.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,348,625 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,750,669,000 after purchasing an additional 4,583,157 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its position in Paychex by 59.1% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 30,265,174 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,395,583,000 after purchasing an additional 11,243,295 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Paychex by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,988,393 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,569,218,000 after purchasing an additional 216,045 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Paychex by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,550,173 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,295,698,000 after buying an additional 263,152 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,705,424 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,093,958,000 after acquiring an additional 78,760 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Paychex news, Director Joseph M. Tucci sold 3,907 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.25, for a total transaction of $383,862.75. Following the sale, the director directly owned 67,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,618,513. The trade was a 5.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PAYX has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Paychex from $116.00 to $95.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 26th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating on shares of Paychex in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Paychex from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Stephens decreased their price objective on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $105.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of Paychex from $148.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $105.80.

Paychex Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $106.35 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $38.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.75 and a beta of 0.84. Paychex, Inc. has a 1 year low of $85.45 and a 1 year high of $148.11. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $96.60 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $98.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.26.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, June 24th. The business services provider reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.31 by $0.01. Paychex had a return on equity of 50.90% and a net margin of 27.03%.The firm had revenue of $1.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.60 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.19 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Paychex has set its FY 2027 guidance at 5.900-6.010 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 5.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 13th were issued a $1.19 dividend. This is a boost from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.08. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 13th. This represents a $4.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.5%. Paychex’s payout ratio is presently 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.