Virtus Advisers LLC Makes New Investment in Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

Virtus Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 1,750 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $255,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of PAYX. Martin Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake 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 last quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors boosted its position in shares of Paychex by 8.6% during the 2nd quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 53,974 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,851,000 after acquiring an additional 4,254 shares during the last quarter. MWA Asset Management grew its holdings in shares of Paychex by 6.5% in the first quarter. MWA Asset Management now owns 4,269 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $659,000 after purchasing an additional 262 shares in the last quarter. Two Point Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Paychex in the second quarter worth $8,761,000. Finally, Midwest Trust Co purchased a new stake in Paychex during the second quarter valued at $5,202,000. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Paychex Trading Up 0.3%

PAYX stock opened at $111.79 on Monday. Paychex, Inc. has a 12 month low of $108.00 and a 12 month high of $161.24. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $120.05 and its 200 day moving average is $136.24. The company has a market capitalization of $40.23 billion, a PE ratio of 25.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.27.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, September 30th. The business services provider reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.02. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.17% and a net margin of 27.85%.The business had revenue of $1.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.54 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.16 EPS. Paychex’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. On average, research analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 26th. Investors of record on Friday, November 7th were paid a $1.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 7th. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.9%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is 97.08%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on PAYX shares. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Paychex from $140.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised Paychex to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Paychex from $132.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Wolfe Research dropped their target price on Paychex from $145.00 to $140.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Paychex from $153.00 to $140.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $139.87.

Paychex Company 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.