Rep. Josh Gottheimer Sells Off Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Representative Josh Gottheimer (D-New Jersey) recently sold shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX). In a filing disclosed on March 06th, the Representative disclosed that they had sold between $1,001 and $15,000 in Paychex stock on February 21st. The trade occurred in the Representative’s “MORGAN STANLEY – SELECT UMA ACCOUNT # 1” account.

Representative Josh Gottheimer also recently made the following trade(s):

• Sold $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) on 2/28/2025.
• Purchased $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Visa (NYSE:V) on 2/28/2025.
• Sold $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Block (NYSE:XYZ) on 2/27/2025.
• Sold $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE:KKR) on 2/27/2025.
• Sold $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Blackstone (NYSE:BX) on 2/27/2025.
• Sold $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Paragon 28 (NYSE:FNA) on 2/27/2025.
• Sold $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE:KKR) on 2/26/2025.
• Purchased $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Fiserv (NYSE:FI) on 2/26/2025.
• Sold $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Blackstone (NYSE:BX) on 2/26/2025.
• Sold $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Vertiv (NYSE:VRT) on 2/25/2025.

Paychex Trading Up 2.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PAYX traded up $3.59 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $153.48. The company had a trading volume of 2,253,742 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,835,842. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $146.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $141.43. The company has a market capitalization of $55.26 billion, a PE ratio of 32.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.39. Paychex, Inc. has a one year low of $114.72 and a one year high of $154.98.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 32.02% and a return on equity of 45.28%. Paychex’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.08 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.55%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 82.53%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PAYX has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $148.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $133.23.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Paychex

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PAYX. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Paychex in the 4th quarter worth about $184,216,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 16.9% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,807,554 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $674,115,000 after buying an additional 694,651 shares during the last quarter. Amundi boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 77.9% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,534,145 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $215,164,000 after buying an additional 672,010 shares during the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 86.5% in the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 1,355,713 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $189,746,000 after buying an additional 628,912 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 30,382.8% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 568,809 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $79,758,000 after buying an additional 566,943 shares during the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Representative Gottheimer

Josh Gottheimer (Democratic Party) is a member of the U.S. House, representing New Jersey’s 5th Congressional District. He assumed office on January 3, 2017. His current term ends on January 3, 2027.

Gottheimer (Democratic Party) is running for re-election to the U.S. House to represent New Jersey’s 5th Congressional District. He declared candidacy for the 2026 election.

Gottheimer is also running for election for Governor of New Jersey. He declared candidacy for the Democratic primary scheduled on June 10, 2025.

Gottheimer attended the University of Pennsylvania for his undergraduate degree. He became a Thouron Fellow at Oxford and attended Harvard Law School. Gottheimer worked as a speech writer under former President Bill Clinton (D), assisting with two State of the Union addresses, among other projects. Before running for Congress, he worked for Microsoft as a general manager for corporate strategy.

About Paychex

Paychex, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides integrated human capital management solutions (HCM) for payroll, benefits, human resources (HR), and insurance services for small to medium-sized businesses in the United States, Europe, and India. It offers payroll processing services; payroll tax administration services; employee payment services; and regulatory compliance services, such as new-hire reporting and garnishment processing.