Bank of Montreal Can Sells 84,454 Shares of Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

Bank of Montreal Can reduced its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 14.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 492,382 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 84,454 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can owned about 0.14% of Paychex worth $71,622,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Arkadios Wealth Advisors lifted its stake in Paychex by 8.6% in the second quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 53,974 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,851,000 after acquiring an additional 4,254 shares during the period. Martin Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in Paychex by 166.9% during the second quarter. Martin Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,340 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $922,000 after buying an additional 3,965 shares during the period. MWA Asset Management lifted its position in Paychex by 6.5% during the first quarter. MWA Asset Management now owns 4,269 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $659,000 after buying an additional 262 shares during the period. Two Point Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Paychex during the second quarter valued at $8,761,000. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new position in Paychex during the first quarter valued at $832,000. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on PAYX. Weiss Ratings raised Paychex from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Paychex from $143.00 to $140.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Wells Fargo & Company raised Paychex to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Paychex from $132.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 20th. Finally, Stephens upgraded Paychex to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $139.87.

Paychex Price Performance

NASDAQ PAYX opened at $115.14 on Wednesday. Paychex, Inc. has a one year low of $113.15 and a one year high of $161.24. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $128.56 and a 200 day moving average of $140.81. The company has a market capitalization of $41.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.87, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.27.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, September 30th. The business services provider reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.02. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.17% and a net margin of 27.85%.The company had revenue of $1.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.54 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.16 EPS. Paychex’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.8% on a year-over-year basis. Paychex has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.428-5.528 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 26th. Investors of record on Friday, November 7th will be issued a $1.08 dividend. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 97.08%.

Paychex Profile

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.