QRG Capital Management Inc. Increases Stock Position in Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 0.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 65,411 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 595 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $9,515,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Paychex during the first quarter worth about $34,000. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in Paychex during the first quarter worth about $34,000. Alpine Bank Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Paychex during the first quarter worth about $34,000. Tsfg LLC increased its holdings in Paychex by 122.3% during the first quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 229 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 126 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nova Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Paychex during the first quarter worth about $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 97,526 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.17, for a total transaction of $14,157,849.42. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman directly owned 446,917 shares in the company, valued at $64,878,940.89. This represents a 17.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,370 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.92, for a total transaction of $1,755,550.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 81,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,602,669.60. This represents a 13.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of Paychex stock opened at $124.61 on Friday. Paychex, Inc. has a 52-week low of $119.02 and a 52-week high of $161.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a fifty day moving average of $135.66 and a 200-day moving average of $144.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a current ratio of 1.27.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, September 30th. The business services provider reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.02. Paychex had a net margin of 27.85% and a return on equity of 45.17%. The company had revenue of $1.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.54 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.16 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 16.8% on a year-over-year basis. Paychex has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.428-5.528 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Monday, July 21st were issued a dividend of $1.08 per share. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 21st. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 97.08%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Argus decreased their price objective on shares of Paychex from $170.00 to $150.00 in a report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group set a $130.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research report on Tuesday. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of Paychex from $153.00 to $148.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Wolfe Research lowered their price target on shares of Paychex from $145.00 to $140.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Paychex from $142.00 to $137.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $142.77.

About Paychex

Paychex, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides integrated human capital management solutions (HCM) for payroll, benefits, human resources (HR), and insurance services for small to medium-sized businesses in the United States, Europe, and India. It offers payroll processing services; payroll tax administration services; employee payment services; and regulatory compliance services, such as new-hire reporting and garnishment processing.