Capital International Investors Sells 3,492,299 Shares of Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

Capital International Investors lessened its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 15.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,021,879 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 3,492,299 shares during the quarter. Capital International Investors owned about 5.29% of Paychex worth $2,411,984,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Heartwood Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Paychex during the third quarter valued at $25,000. MMA Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Paychex in the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Westfuller Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Paychex in the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. Caitlin John LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex during the third quarter worth $36,000. Finally, E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Paychex by 193.2% during the third quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 346 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 228 shares during the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PAYX has been the topic of several analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Paychex from $137.00 to $126.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Wolfe Research lowered their price objective on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $115.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Paychex from $140.00 to $121.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their target price on Paychex from $150.00 to $125.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 5th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Paychex from $139.00 to $120.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $123.94.

Paychex Stock Down 2.5%

Paychex stock opened at $98.30 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.27. The company’s 50-day moving average is $101.94 and its 200-day moving average is $115.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $35.29 billion, a PE ratio of 22.29 and a beta of 0.91. Paychex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $86.89 and a fifty-two week high of $161.24.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.26 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.23 by $0.03. Paychex had a return on equity of 46.38% and a net margin of 26.45%.The business had revenue of $1.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.55 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.14 earnings per share. Paychex’s quarterly revenue was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. Paychex has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.480-5.530 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 28th were issued a dividend of $1.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, January 28th. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.4%. Paychex’s payout ratio is presently 97.96%.

Paychex declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Friday, January 16th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the business services provider to buy up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.