Legal & General Group Plc Decreases Position in Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

Legal & General Group Plc reduced its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,421,968 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 149,616 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned 0.67% of Paychex worth $307,009,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Empirical Finance LLC lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 11,267 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,639,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Quantum Portfolio Management LLC grew its position in shares of Paychex by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter. Quantum Portfolio Management LLC now owns 2,464 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $358,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. grew its position in shares of Paychex by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 2,597 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $378,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Somerset Trust Co grew its position in shares of Paychex by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Somerset Trust Co now owns 32,964 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,179,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Suncoast Equity Management raised its stake in Paychex by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Suncoast Equity Management now owns 14,055 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,782,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Stock Performance

NASDAQ PAYX opened at $94.00 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $33.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.32 and a beta of 0.91. Paychex, Inc. has a 52-week low of $86.89 and a 52-week high of $161.24. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $101.21 and its 200 day moving average price is $114.57. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.23 by $0.03. Paychex had a return on equity of 46.38% and a net margin of 26.45%.The company had revenue of $1.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.55 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.14 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. Paychex has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.480-5.530 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 28th were issued a dividend of $1.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, January 28th. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.6%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 97.96%.

Paychex declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Friday, January 16th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the business services provider to repurchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Paychex in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Paychex to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Paychex from $137.00 to $126.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Paychex from $140.00 to $121.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. Finally, Stephens dropped their price target on Paychex from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus 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.