First Nebraska Trust Co Acquires New Shares in Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

First Nebraska Trust Co bought a new position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 93,448 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $9,189,000.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Paychex during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Paychex by 957.1% during the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 296 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares during the last quarter. Kingdom Financial Group LLC. bought a new position in shares of Paychex during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Acumen Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Wealth Watch Advisors INC bought a new stake in Paychex in the third quarter worth $42,000. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Paychex Stock Up 1.3%

Paychex stock opened at $124.47 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $44.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.45 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.26. Paychex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $85.45 and a fifty-two week high of $141.19. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $111.08 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $100.01.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $1.31 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.61 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.60 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 50.90% and a net margin of 27.03%.The firm’s revenue was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.19 earnings per share. Paychex has set its FY 2027 guidance at 5.900-6.010 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 5.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 28th will be paid a dividend of $1.19 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 28th. This represents a $4.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 97.34%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on PAYX. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Paychex from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Paychex from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Paychex from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $107.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating on shares of Paychex in a report on Thursday, May 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Paychex has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $109.20.

About Paychex

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.