Bank of New York Mellon Corp Sells 31,254 Shares of Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

Bank of New York Mellon Corp lessened its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 1.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,007,580 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 31,254 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp’s holdings in Paychex were worth $184,938,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Paychex by 12.1% during 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 acquiring an additional 4,583,157 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 59.1% in 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 during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,988,393 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,569,218,000 after purchasing an additional 216,045 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 263,152 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Paychex by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,705,424 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,093,958,000 after purchasing an additional 78,760 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Paychex

In other Paychex news, Director Joseph M. Tucci sold 3,907 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.25, for a total value of $383,862.75. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 67,364 shares in the company, valued at $6,618,513. The trade was a 5.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on PAYX shares. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Paychex from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Paychex from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Argus upgraded Paychex to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 27th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Paychex to $52.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on Paychex from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $105.80.

Paychex Stock Performance

PAYX opened at $114.39 on Friday. Paychex, Inc. has a 12-month low of $85.45 and a 12-month high of $148.11. The stock has a market cap of $40.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.39 and a beta of 0.84. The business has a 50 day moving average of $100.05 and a 200-day moving average of $98.39. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, June 24th. The business services provider reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $1.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.60 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.19 EPS. The firm’s 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. On average, equities research analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 5.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 28th will be given a dividend of $1.19 per share. This represents a $4.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 28th. Paychex’s payout ratio is 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.