Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Stock Holdings Reduced by State of Michigan Retirement System

State of Michigan Retirement System cut its position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 0.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 96,077 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 300 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System’s holdings in Paychex were worth $11,798,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Outlook Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Paychex in the fourth quarter worth $214,000. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 80.2% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 343,269 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $40,887,000 after buying an additional 152,818 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 366.5% during the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 20,863 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,485,000 after acquiring an additional 16,391 shares in the last quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Paychex during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,229,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in shares of Paychex by 218.8% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 680,257 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $80,794,000 after acquiring an additional 466,890 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PAYX has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of Paychex from $126.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. TD Cowen decreased their target price on Paychex from $122.00 to $121.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “in-line” rating and issued a $118.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Barclays cut their price target on Paychex from $120.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Finally, Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $115.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $122.46.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of Paychex stock traded up $1.38 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $118.38. 1,665,472 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,852,665. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The company has a market cap of $42.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 1.00. Paychex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $106.27 and a fifty-two week high of $129.70. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $122.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $121.84.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 26th. The business services provider reported $1.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.29 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 46.63% and a net margin of 32.03%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.97 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 30th. Investors of record on Friday, May 10th were issued a $0.98 dividend. This is a positive change from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.31%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 9th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 83.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paychex

In related news, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 19,709 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction on Friday, May 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.55, for a total transaction of $2,454,755.95. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 5,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $670,452.65. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 11.50% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Profile

Paychex, Inc provides integrated human capital management solutions for human resources (HR), payroll, benefits, 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.