Schroder Investment Management Group Cuts Stock Position in Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

Schroder Investment Management Group lessened its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 77.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 255,069 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 853,392 shares during the quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group’s holdings in Paychex were worth $32,333,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. ABC Arbitrage SA grew its position in shares of Paychex by 61.4% during the third quarter. ABC Arbitrage SA now owns 28,208 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,576,000 after buying an additional 10,726 shares in the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new stake in Paychex in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,877,000. Summit Global Investments lifted its stake in Paychex by 1,938.2% in the third quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 48,143 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,103,000 after acquiring an additional 45,781 shares during the last quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Paychex by 20.6% in the third quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 240,564 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $30,494,000 after acquiring an additional 41,114 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Paychex by 6.0% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,384,846 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $637,820,000 after acquiring an additional 249,550 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Paychex from $128.00 to $116.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Paychex from $137.00 to $126.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Argus cut their price target on Paychex from $150.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 2nd. Wolfe Research decreased their price target on Paychex from $130.00 to $115.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective 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 analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $123.94.

Paychex Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of Paychex stock opened at $94.00 on Thursday. 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 company has a fifty day simple moving average of $101.21 and a 200-day simple moving average of $114.57. The stock has a market cap of $33.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.32 and a beta of 0.91. Paychex, Inc. has a 12-month low of $86.89 and a 12-month high of $161.24.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $1.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.55 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.14 EPS. Paychex’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Paychex has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.480-5.530 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

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

Paychex announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Friday, January 16th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the business services provider to repurchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.