Westpac Banking Corp Acquires 5,946 Shares of Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

Westpac Banking Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 317.3% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 7,820 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,946 shares during the quarter. Westpac Banking Corp’s holdings in Paychex were worth $991,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PAYX. Heartwood Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex in the third quarter worth $25,000. NewSquare Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Paychex by 83.8% in the 2nd quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 215 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the period. MMA Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Paychex in the 3rd quarter worth $32,000. Westfuller Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Paychex during the 3rd quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC raised its position in shares of Paychex by 40.6% during the second quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC now owns 263 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on PAYX. Wolfe Research reduced their price objective on Paychex from $130.00 to $115.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $110.00 target price on Paychex in a research report on Friday, December 19th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price target on shares of Paychex from $150.00 to $125.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 5th. Argus dropped their price objective on shares of Paychex from $150.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Paychex from $133.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Paychex currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $123.94.

Paychex Stock Up 3.6%

Shares of PAYX opened at $94.48 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $104.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $117.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.27. Paychex, Inc. has a one year low of $86.89 and a one year high of $161.24. The company has a market capitalization of $33.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.42 and a beta of 0.90.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced 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. The company had revenue of $1.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.55 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 46.38% and a net margin of 26.45%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.14 earnings per share. 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 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 27th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 28th will be given a $1.08 dividend. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.6%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 28th. Paychex’s payout ratio is 97.96%.

Paychex announced that its board has approved a stock buyback 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 purchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board 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.