Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Shares Sold by Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky reduced its position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 5.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 26,191 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,383 shares during the period. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky’s holdings in Paychex were worth $3,216,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Cetera Advisors LLC increased its position in Paychex by 74.2% in the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 40,033 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,916,000 after buying an additional 17,056 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its position in Paychex by 220.0% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 117,347 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $14,410,000 after buying an additional 80,678 shares during the period. Dodds Wealth LLC increased its position in Paychex by 11.5% in the first quarter. Dodds Wealth LLC now owns 1,962 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $241,000 after buying an additional 203 shares during the period. PGGM Investments increased its position in Paychex by 5.9% in the first quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 13,760 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,690,000 after buying an additional 763 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in Paychex in the first quarter worth $18,352,000. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on PAYX. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Paychex from $125.00 to $122.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $130.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on Paychex from $126.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Bank of America increased their price target on Paychex from $111.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on Paychex from $120.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $122.46.

Paychex Price Performance

PAYX stock traded up $0.79 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $127.28. 2,415,604 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,943,847. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $122.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $122.10. Paychex, Inc. has a one year low of $106.27 and a one year high of $129.92. The company has a market cap of $45.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.25, a P/E/G ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, June 26th. The business services provider reported $1.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.02. Paychex had a return on equity of 46.63% and a net margin of 32.03%. The business had revenue of $1.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.29 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.97 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 8th will be given a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 8th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.08%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 83.94%.

Insider Activity at Paychex

In related news, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 9,615 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.60, for a total value of $1,207,644.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 5,383 shares in the company, valued at approximately $676,104.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 101,490 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.27, for a total value of $11,901,732.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 437,345 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $51,287,448.15. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 9,615 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.60, for a total value of $1,207,644.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 5,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $676,104.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 152,438 shares of company stock worth $18,185,292 in the last quarter. 11.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Paychex

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.