Kepler Cheuvreux Suisse SA Makes New Investment in Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

Kepler Cheuvreux Suisse SA purchased a new position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 100,857 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $12,785,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Paychex by 17.2% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,765,468 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,787,151,000 after acquiring an additional 5,549,511 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Paychex in the 2nd quarter valued at $302,244,000. Marshall Wace LLP grew its holdings in shares of Paychex by 179.5% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,078,328 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $156,854,000 after purchasing an additional 692,533 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Paychex by 29.2% during the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,542,901 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $369,901,000 after purchasing an additional 574,337 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of Paychex by 209.1% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 838,679 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $106,311,000 after purchasing an additional 567,352 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Price Performance

PAYX opened at $95.12 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $101.57 and its 200 day moving average price is $114.71. Paychex, Inc. has a 12-month low of $86.89 and a 12-month high of $161.24. The firm has a market cap of $34.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.57 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its earnings results on Friday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.56 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.55 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 46.38% and a net margin of 26.45%.Paychex’s revenue was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.14 EPS. Paychex has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.480-5.530 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex announced that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Friday, January 16th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the business services provider to purchase up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 28th were issued a $1.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, January 28th. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.5%. Paychex’s payout ratio is 97.96%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on PAYX shares. Stephens reduced their price objective on shares of Paychex from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 22nd. Wolfe Research lowered their target price on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $115.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Paychex from $139.00 to $120.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Paychex from $150.00 to $125.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Paychex from $133.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $123.94.

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.