Twin Capital Management Inc. Reduces Holdings in Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

Twin Capital Management Inc. cut its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 20.0% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 22,824 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 5,692 shares during the quarter. Twin Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $2,103,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in Paychex by 26.3% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 5,710 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $801,000 after buying an additional 1,190 shares during the period. Bison Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Paychex by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 4,035 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $566,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP purchased a new stake in Paychex in the 1st quarter valued at $3,333,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its position in Paychex by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 41,081 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,976,000 after purchasing an additional 1,290 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in Paychex by 47.1% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 156,680 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $22,790,000 after purchasing an additional 50,169 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Paychex from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating on shares of Paychex in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Paychex from $100.00 to $98.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Paychex in a report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their target price on Paychex from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 8th. One 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 issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Paychex has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $105.80.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Joseph M. Tucci sold 3,907 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the director directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Trading Up 0.4%

NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $109.98 on Thursday. Paychex, Inc. has a 52-week low of $85.45 and a 52-week high of $148.11. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $99.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $98.27. The company has a market capitalization of $39.40 billion, a PE ratio of 22.49 and a beta of 0.84.

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 firm had revenue of $1.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.60 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 27.03% and a return on equity of 50.90%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.19 EPS. Paychex has set its FY 2027 guidance at 5.900-6.010 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 5.96 earnings per share 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 given a dividend of $1.19 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 13th. This is a positive change from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.08. This represents a $4.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.3%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.