Paychex, Inc. $PAYX Shares Bought by CHICAGO TRUST Co NA

CHICAGO TRUST Co NA boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 170.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 11,963 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,544 shares during the period. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA’s holdings in Paychex were worth $1,102,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PAYX. Capital International Investors increased 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 buying an additional 11,243,295 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Paychex by 12.1% during the fourth 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 during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its position in shares of Paychex by 4,141.2% during the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,409,229 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $270,267,000 after purchasing an additional 2,352,423 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Paychex during the fourth quarter valued at $257,699,000. Finally, Voloridge Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Paychex in the 3rd quarter valued at $117,809,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PAYX has been the topic of several analyst reports. Argus raised shares of Paychex to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. Guggenheim assumed coverage on shares of Paychex in a research note on Thursday, March 19th. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. Stephens reduced their target price on Paychex from $125.00 to $105.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Paychex from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $105.80.

Insider Activity at Paychex

In other news, Director Joseph M. Tucci sold 3,907 shares of the business’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 completion of the sale, the director directly owned 67,364 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,618,513. The trade was a 5.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Paychex Stock Up 4.5%

PAYX stock opened at $102.71 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $36.80 billion, a PE ratio of 21.00 and a beta of 0.83. Paychex, Inc. has a 1 year low of $85.45 and a 1 year high of $148.11. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $96.09 and a 200 day simple moving average of $98.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick 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, beating the consensus estimate 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%.The business’s revenue was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.19 earnings per share. Paychex has set its FY 2027 guidance at 5.900-6.010 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 5.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 13th were issued a dividend of $1.19 per share. This represents a $4.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.6%. This is a boost from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.08. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 13th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is 97.34%.

Paychex Company 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.