Paychex, Inc. $PAYX Position Increased by Meritage Portfolio Management

Meritage Portfolio Management boosted its holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 100.3% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 33,521 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 16,788 shares during the quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management’s holdings in Paychex were worth $4,249,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Paychex by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 32,215,957 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,686,133,000 after acquiring an additional 408,114 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Paychex by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 14,066,067 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,046,050,000 after purchasing an additional 355,294 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Paychex by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,033,312 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,604,906,000 after purchasing an additional 251,139 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Paychex by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,183,871 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,481,053,000 after buying an additional 274,947 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Paychex by 6.0% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,384,846 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $637,820,000 after buying an additional 249,550 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on PAYX shares. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target 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. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Paychex in a research note on Monday, December 29th. TD Cowen reduced their target price on Paychex from $126.00 to $114.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 1st. Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Paychex in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Finally, Wolfe Research dropped their price target on Paychex from $130.00 to $115.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $125.67.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $110.29 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $39.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.01 and a beta of 0.91. Paychex, Inc. has a 1 year low of $107.80 and a 1 year high of $161.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $112.32 and a 200 day simple moving average of $126.86.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its earnings results on Friday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.26 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $1.56 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.55 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.14 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Paychex has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.480-5.530 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.