Cooper Haims Advisors LLC Sells 30,876 Shares of Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

Cooper Haims Advisors LLC decreased its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 50.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 30,740 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 30,876 shares during the quarter. Paychex makes up approximately 1.3% of Cooper Haims Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest position. Cooper Haims Advisors LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $3,028,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. XXEC Inc. bought a new position in shares of Paychex during the second quarter valued at about $1,123,016,000. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Paychex during the second quarter worth about $2,728,970,000. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Paychex by 2.6% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 14,411,341 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,417,067,000 after purchasing an additional 361,713 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in Paychex in the 2nd quarter worth about $434,061,000. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in Paychex by 13.5% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,344,056 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $215,934,000 after purchasing an additional 278,507 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Trading Down 2.0%

NASDAQ PAYX opened at $117.06 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $112.00 and its 200-day moving average is $103.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.23, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.81. Paychex, Inc. has a one year low of $85.45 and a one year high of $127.98.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $0.02. Paychex had a net margin of 27.35% and a return on equity of 52.78%. The company had revenue of $1.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.63 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.22 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. Paychex has set its FY 2027 guidance at 5.896-6.006 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 5.96 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 26th will be paid a $1.19 dividend. This represents a $4.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 26th. Paychex’s payout ratio is presently 94.44%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PAYX has been the subject of several analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their price objective on shares of Paychex from $112.00 to $96.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 28th. TD Cowen cut their target price on Paychex from $117.00 to $105.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 25th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on Paychex from $118.00 to $113.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 24th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Paychex in a research report on Friday, October 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Paychex from $130.00 to $112.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $115.93.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Joseph Velli sold 7,839 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.68, for a total transaction of $844,103.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 81,725 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,800,148. This represents a 8.75% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Paychex

Paychex, Inc provides payroll, human resources and employee benefits solutions to businesses of varying sizes. Its services include payroll processing, tax administration, time and attendance tools, HR support, employee benefits, retirement services and business insurance.

The company also offers professional employer organization services, which let businesses outsource certain employment responsibilities, as well as technology for workforce management, recruiting and compliance. Paychex primarily serves employers in the United States and supports businesses with international workforce needs.

Founded in Rochester, New York, in 1971 by B.