Paychex, Inc. (PAYX) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.98 on November 27th

Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, October 10th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 7th will be given a dividend of 0.98 per share by the business services provider on Wednesday, November 27th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.81%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 7th.

Paychex has raised its dividend payment by an average of 11.7% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 14 years. Paychex has a dividend payout ratio of 74.2% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Paychex to earn $5.31 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.92 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 73.8%.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PAYX opened at $139.68 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $136.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $127.64. The company has a market cap of $50.27 billion, a PE ratio of 29.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.82 and a beta of 0.99. Paychex has a twelve month low of $109.98 and a twelve month high of $144.17.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 1st. The business services provider reported $1.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.97% and a net margin of 31.98%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.14 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Paychex will post 4.98 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Paychex

In other news, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.35, for a total value of $1,852,685.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 17,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,471,480.70. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Paychex news, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 14,731 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.18, for a total value of $2,050,260.58. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 14,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,020,197.70. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 13,015 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.35, for a total transaction of $1,852,685.25. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 17,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,471,480.70. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 54,174 shares of company stock worth $7,577,231. Company insiders own 11.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PAYX has been the subject of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Paychex from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Paychex from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on Paychex from $125.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $130.77.

Paychex Company Profile

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.