Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS Has $8.63 Million Stock Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS lessened its holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 0.1% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 70,302 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 102 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS’s holdings in Paychex were worth $8,633,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on PAYX shares. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on Paychex from $122.00 to $121.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $130.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $122.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Paychex from $120.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 1st. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Paychex from $126.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $122.46.

Insider Transactions at Paychex

In other Paychex news, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 19,709 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.55, for a total value of $2,454,755.95. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 5,383 shares in the company, valued at $670,452.65. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 101,490 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.27, for a total value of $11,901,732.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 437,345 shares in the company, valued at approximately $51,287,448.15. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 19,709 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the director now directly owns 5,383 shares in the company, valued at approximately $670,452.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 11.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Paychex Stock Up 2.2 %

PAYX traded up $2.65 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $124.28. 1,791,500 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,842,222. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The business’s 50 day moving average is $121.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $121.51. The stock has a market cap of $44.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.61, a PEG ratio of 3.13 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.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company’s revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.97 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 28th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 8th will be given a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.15%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 8th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 83.94%.

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.