Fulton Bank N.A. Has $2.57 Million Stock Holdings in Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

Fulton Bank N.A. increased its position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 147.1% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 27,861 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 16,588 shares during the quarter. Fulton Bank N.A.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $2,567,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of PAYX. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 12.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,348,625 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,750,669,000 after purchasing an additional 4,583,157 shares during the last quarter. LBP AM SA increased its position in Paychex by 125.2% during the fourth quarter. LBP AM SA now owns 40,517 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,545,000 after buying an additional 22,527 shares during the last quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC increased its position in Paychex by 17.4% during the fourth quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC now owns 79,708 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $8,942,000 after buying an additional 11,805 shares during the last quarter. Comerica Bank raised its holdings in Paychex by 10.4% during the fourth quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 121,705 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $13,653,000 after buying an additional 11,497 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 38.1% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,856,157 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $235,286,000 after buying an additional 511,728 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on PAYX shares. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Paychex to $52.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 26th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating on shares of Paychex in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Paychex from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Stephens dropped their price target on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $105.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Paychex to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Paychex has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $105.80.

Paychex Stock Up 4.5%

Shares of PAYX stock opened at $102.71 on Thursday. Paychex, Inc. has a 12 month low of $85.45 and a 12 month high of $148.11. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22. The firm has a market cap of $36.80 billion, a PE ratio of 21.00 and a beta of 0.83. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $96.09 and a 200-day moving average of $98.77.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, June 24th. The business services provider reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.31 by $0.01. Paychex had a net margin of 27.03% and a return on equity of 50.90%. The business had revenue of $1.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.60 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.19 earnings per share. Paychex’s revenue was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Paychex has set its FY 2027 guidance at 5.900-6.010 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 5.97 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 13th were given a dividend of $1.19 per share. This represents a $4.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.6%. This is a boost from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.08. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 13th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 97.34%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 completion of the sale, the director owned 67,364 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,618,513. This trade represents a 5.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.