Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Has $15.40 Million Stock Position in Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lessened its position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 53.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 121,260 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 139,246 shares during the quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $15,402,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PAYX. Arkadios Wealth Advisors lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 8.6% in the 2nd quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 53,974 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,851,000 after purchasing an additional 4,254 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew 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 worth $637,820,000 after purchasing an additional 249,550 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in Paychex by 48.9% in the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,260,376 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $155,341,000 after purchasing an additional 414,196 shares in the last quarter. Aberdeen Group plc lifted its stake in Paychex by 10.8% in the second quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 255,076 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $36,716,000 after buying an additional 24,820 shares during the period. Finally, Tectonic Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Paychex by 18.1% in the third quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC now owns 67,903 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $8,607,000 after buying an additional 10,386 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on PAYX shares. Wolfe Research reduced 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. Stephens reduced their price target on shares of Paychex from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Paychex from $150.00 to $125.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 5th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Paychex from $137.00 to $126.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Paychex from $133.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $125.67.

Paychex Price Performance

Paychex stock opened at $107.19 on Friday. Paychex, Inc. has a 1-year low of $106.80 and a 1-year high of $161.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.31 and a beta of 0.91. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $111.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $125.43. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17.

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

Paychex Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 28th will be issued a $1.08 dividend. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 28th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 97.96%.

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

Paychex 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.