Paychex, Inc. (PAYX) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.98 on August 28th

Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, July 10th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 8th will be given a dividend of 0.98 per share by the business services provider on Wednesday, August 28th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 8th.

Paychex has raised its dividend by an average of 11.7% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 14 consecutive years. Paychex has a dividend payout ratio of 74.2% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Paychex to earn $5.33 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 73.5%.

Paychex Price Performance

PAYX stock opened at $124.70 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.37. Paychex has a 1 year low of $106.27 and a 1 year high of $129.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.70, a P/E/G ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 1.00. The business’s 50-day moving average is $122.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $122.11.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 26th. The business services provider reported $1.12 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.02. Paychex had a net margin of 32.03% and a return on equity of 46.63%. The company had revenue of $1.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.29 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.97 earnings per share. Paychex’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Paychex will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $122.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Paychex from $126.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Paychex from $111.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $130.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Paychex from $120.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $122.46.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paychex

In other Paychex news, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 8,954 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.60, for a total transaction of $1,106,714.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 79,232 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,793,075.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Paychex news, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 8,954 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.60, for a total transaction of $1,106,714.40. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 79,232 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,793,075.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,670 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.53, for a total value of $1,514,445.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 55,745 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,663,199.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 152,438 shares of company stock worth $18,185,292. 11.50% of the stock is currently owned by 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.