Man Group plc Makes New $406,000 Investment in Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

Man Group plc acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 4,131 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $406,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of PAYX. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Paychex during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Kingdom Financial Group LLC. bought a new stake in shares of Paychex in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Leonteq Securities AG increased its holdings in shares of Paychex by 2,669.2% in the first quarter. Leonteq Securities AG now owns 360 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 347 shares during the last quarter. Acumen Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Paychex in the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Castleark Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Paychex in the second quarter worth about $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Paychex

In other Paychex news, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 2,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief financial officer owned 18,547 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,134,574.23. This trade represents a 12.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph M. Tucci sold 3,907 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.25, for a total transaction of $383,862.75. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 67,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,618,513. The trade was a 5.48% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Paychex Stock Performance

NASDAQ PAYX opened at $121.71 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $116.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $101.96. Paychex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $85.45 and a fifty-two week high of $138.19. The company has a market cap of $43.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.26.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 24th. The business services provider reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.31 by $0.01. Paychex had a return on equity of 50.90% and a net margin of 27.03%.The company had revenue of $1.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.60 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.19 earnings per share. Paychex’s revenue was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. Paychex has set its FY 2027 guidance at 5.900-6.010 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 5.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 28th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 28th were paid a dividend of $1.19 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 28th. This represents a $4.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.9%. Paychex’s payout ratio is currently 97.34%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PAYX has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded Paychex from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Monday, July 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Paychex from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Paychex from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Paychex from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $107.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research note on Monday, July 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $111.00.

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.