Bank of Nova Scotia Acquires 74,521 Shares of Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

Bank of Nova Scotia raised its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 18.9% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 468,814 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 74,521 shares during the quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia’s holdings in Paychex were worth $43,187,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in PAYX. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 59.1% in the 4th 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. Vanguard Group Inc. raised 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 valued at $4,750,669,000 after purchasing an additional 4,583,157 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 4,141.2% during the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,409,229 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $270,267,000 after acquiring an additional 2,352,423 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Paychex during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $257,699,000. Finally, Voloridge Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Paychex in the 3rd quarter valued at about $117,809,000. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paychex

In related news, Director Joseph M. Tucci sold 3,907 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director owned 67,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,618,513. The trade was a 5.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on PAYX shares. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Paychex from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 8th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective 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. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Paychex from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Monday. Citigroup upgraded Paychex from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $99.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Monday, June 15th. Finally, Argus upgraded Paychex to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Paychex presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $107.53.

Paychex Stock Up 2.6%

Shares of NASDAQ PAYX opened at $113.55 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $102.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $98.40. The firm has a market cap of $40.39 billion, a PE ratio of 23.22 and a beta of 0.84. 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, Inc. has a 12-month low of $85.45 and a 12-month high of $148.11.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued 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. The company had revenue of $1.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.60 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 50.90% and a net margin of 27.03%.Paychex’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.19 earnings per share. Paychex has set its FY 2027 guidance at 5.900-6.010 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 5.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 28th will be paid a dividend of $1.19 per share. This represents a $4.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 28th. Paychex’s payout ratio is presently 97.34%.

Paychex 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.