Thomas Story & Son LLC Sells 350 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Thomas Story & Son LLC cut its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 2.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,045 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 350 shares during the period. Thomas Story & Son LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $1,554,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PAYX. Capital International Investors increased its position in shares of Paychex by 9.0% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 18,504,389 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,204,115,000 after acquiring an additional 1,523,520 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its holdings in Paychex by 337.3% during the third quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,544,806 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $178,162,000 after purchasing an additional 1,191,539 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in Paychex by 229.8% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,630,944 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $188,655,000 after purchasing an additional 1,136,456 shares during the period. Capital World Investors bought a new position in Paychex during the fourth quarter worth about $115,494,000. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in Paychex by 123.5% during the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,386,462 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $165,141,000 after purchasing an additional 766,252 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on PAYX shares. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $130.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a report on Tuesday, May 21st. Evercore ISI reiterated an “in-line” rating and set a $118.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Paychex from $108.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and set a $115.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their price objective on Paychex from $122.00 to $121.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $123.00.

Paychex Price Performance

PAYX traded down $0.68 during trading on Friday, hitting $121.99. 1,144,904 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,751,057. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.24. The company has a market cap of $43.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.58, a PEG ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 0.96. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $122.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $122.00. Paychex, Inc. has a twelve month low of $106.27 and a twelve month high of $129.70.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 2nd. The business services provider reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.46 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 31.86% and a return on equity of 46.14%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.29 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 10th were given a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.21%. This is a boost from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is 85.40%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paychex

In other news, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 19,709 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.55, for a total transaction of $2,454,755.95. Following the transaction, the director now owns 5,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $670,452.65. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 11.50% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Company 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.