Western Wealth Management LLC Buys New Holdings in Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

Western Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 12,749 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,174,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PAYX. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 59.1% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 30,265,174 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,395,583,000 after purchasing an additional 11,243,295 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Paychex by 12.1% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its holdings in Paychex by 4,141.2% in the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,409,229 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $270,267,000 after buying an additional 2,352,423 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Paychex during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $257,699,000. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Paychex by 773.0% during the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,321,663 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $121,752,000 after buying an additional 1,170,277 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on PAYX shares. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Paychex in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Paychex from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Paychex from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Monday, July 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Paychex from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Paychex from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Paychex presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $108.20.

Paychex Price Performance

PAYX opened at $120.37 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $107.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $99.09. The firm has a market cap of $42.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.62 and a beta of 0.81. Paychex, Inc. has a twelve month low of $85.45 and a twelve month high of $141.19. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 24th. The business services provider reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.31 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.61 billion for 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 quarterly revenue was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.19 EPS. Paychex has set its FY 2027 guidance at 5.900-6.010 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 5.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 28th will be paid a $1.19 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 28th. This represents a $4.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.0%. Paychex’s payout ratio is 97.34%.

Insider Activity

In other Paychex news, Director Joseph M. Tucci sold 3,907 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.25, for a total transaction of $383,862.75. Following the sale, the director directly owned 67,364 shares in the company, valued at $6,618,513. The trade was a 5.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 2,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.09, for a total value of $299,234.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 18,547 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,134,574.23. The trade was a 12.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

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.