First Nebraska Trust Co Takes Position in Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

First Nebraska Trust Co bought a new position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 88,177 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $8,123,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in PAYX. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC grew its holdings in Paychex by 957.1% during the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 296 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 268 shares in the last quarter. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Paychex in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Kingdom Financial Group LLC. bought a new stake in Paychex in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Leonteq Securities AG raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 2,669.2% during the 1st quarter. Leonteq Securities AG now owns 360 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 347 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Acumen Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Paychex during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Paychex Price Performance

NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $116.84 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.89 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.26. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $104.42 and a 200-day simple moving average of $98.61. Paychex, Inc. has a 1 year low of $85.45 and a 1 year high of $146.83.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, June 24th. The business services provider reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.31 by $0.01. Paychex had a return on equity of 50.90% and a net margin of 27.03%.The firm had revenue of $1.61 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.60 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.19 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Paychex has set its FY 2027 guidance at 5.900-6.010 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 5.96 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 28th will be paid a dividend of $1.19 per share. This represents a $4.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 28th. Paychex’s payout ratio is presently 97.34%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating on shares of Paychex in a report on Thursday, May 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Paychex from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Paychex from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Monday, July 20th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $108.20.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Joseph M. Tucci sold 3,907 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.25, for a total value of $383,862.75. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 67,364 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,618,513. This trade represents a 5.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 2,600 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.09, for a total transaction of $299,234.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 18,547 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,134,574.23. This represents a 12.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

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.