Swedbank AB Grows Stock Holdings in Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

Swedbank AB boosted its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 8.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 197,221 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 15,065 shares during the quarter. Swedbank AB owned 0.06% of Paychex worth $18,168,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of PAYX. 44 Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. 44 Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,290 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $479,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Paychex by 3.5% during the second quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,645 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $381,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. JPL Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Paychex by 0.3% during the third quarter. JPL Wealth Management LLC now owns 27,686 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,509,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust boosted its position in Paychex by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 5,834 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $654,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bollard Group LLC grew its holdings in Paychex by 0.6% in the third quarter. Bollard Group LLC now owns 16,496 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,091,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Paychex

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

More Paychex News

Here are the key news stories impacting Paychex this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Zacks Research raised several forward earnings estimates for Paychex, including FY2027 EPS to $5.92, FY2028 EPS to $6.22, FY2029 EPS to $6.69, and Q1/Q2/Q3 2027 estimates in multiple quarters, signaling improved confidence in the company’s long-term earnings power.
• Positive Sentiment: The company is being highlighted as one of the Nasdaq 100’s highest-yielding stocks, which may attract dividend-focused investors looking for reliable passive income and total return potential. The Nasdaq 100’s 5 Highest-Yielding Stocks Are Hot Summer Picks
• Neutral Sentiment: One recent investor article, “The Toughest Questions PAYX Faced On Its Latest Call,” suggests the latest earnings call drew scrutiny, but no specific negative operational issue was provided in the feed. The Toughest Questions PAYX Faced On Its Latest Call
• Neutral Sentiment: Some Zacks revisions were mixed quarter-to-quarter, with a few short-term estimates trimmed even as longer-term forecasts improved, leaving the overall analyst message balanced rather than uniformly bullish.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PAYX opened at $106.26 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $97.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $98.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.26. The company has a market cap of $38.07 billion, a PE ratio of 21.73 and a beta of 0.84. Paychex, Inc. has a 12 month low of $85.45 and a 12 month high of $148.11.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 24th. The business services provider reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.31 by $0.01. Paychex had a net margin of 27.03% and a return on equity of 50.90%. The business had revenue of $1.61 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.60 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.19 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly 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 analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 5.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 13th were issued a dividend of $1.19 per share. This represents a $4.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.5%. This is a positive change from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.08. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 13th. Paychex’s payout ratio is 97.34%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on PAYX shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Paychex from $116.00 to $95.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. Stephens lowered their price objective on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $105.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. Argus upgraded shares of Paychex to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 27th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Paychex in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Paychex to $52.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $105.80.

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.