Global X Japan Co. Ltd. Purchases 15,051 Shares of Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

Global X Japan Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 360.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 19,222 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 15,051 shares during the quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $2,156,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in PAYX. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in Paychex by 26.3% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 5,710 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $801,000 after acquiring an additional 1,190 shares during the period. Bison Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Paychex by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 4,035 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $566,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP bought a new position in shares of Paychex in the 1st quarter worth $3,333,000. Summit Global Investments bought a new stake in Paychex during the 2nd quarter valued at $344,000. Finally, Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its holdings in Paychex by 7.6% during the second quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 44,217 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,432,000 after buying an additional 3,138 shares during the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on PAYX shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Paychex in a report on Monday, December 29th. TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of Paychex from $114.00 to $95.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Paychex from $137.00 to $126.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Argus dropped their target price on Paychex from $150.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 2nd. Finally, Guggenheim assumed coverage on Paychex in a research report on Thursday, March 19th. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $114.56.

Paychex Trading Up 0.2%

NASDAQ PAYX opened at $93.59 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $97.04 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $111.26. Paychex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $86.89 and a fifty-two week high of $161.24. The stock has a market cap of $33.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.61 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.26.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 25th. The business services provider reported $1.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.78 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 48.52% and a net margin of 25.84%.The business’s revenue was up 19.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.49 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 28th were given a $1.08 dividend. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, January 28th. Paychex’s payout ratio is currently 97.96%.

Paychex announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Friday, January 16th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the business services provider to buy up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

More Paychex News

Here are the key news stories impacting Paychex this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q3 results beat expectations — Paychex reported EPS of $1.71 and revenue of $1.81B (≈20% Y/Y), with management highlighting segment strength that helped the beat. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: AI and Paycor integration cited as catalysts — Management and coverage emphasize AI advisory services and the Paycor deal as medium-term growth drivers for client retention and new-services uptake. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Dividend/yield appeal highlighted — Income-focused coverage points out Paychex’s ~5% yield as a reason some investors may re-rate the stock if growth/AI fears ease. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Earnings call/transcripts available — Conference call and transcripts provide detail on margins, PEO trends and FY outlook; useful for parsing whether growth will outpace rising costs. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Several analysts maintain Hold/Neutral ratings — Firms like William Blair and BMO kept Hold/Neutral stances, signaling balanced risk/reward despite solid fundamentals. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: JPMorgan cuts price target to $100 and rates underweight — a notable sell-side downgrade that pressures sentiment. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Wells Fargo lowers target to $95 and labels underweight — another downgrade reducing near-term analyst support. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Cost and margin pressure concerns surfaced — some coverage notes the stock briefly slid after the print as investors focused on rising costs and margin risk despite the revenue beat. Read More.

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.