4,805 Shares in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Purchased by Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp

Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp bought a new position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 4,805 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $570,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in Paychex by 12.8% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 20,878,283 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,563,853,000 after buying an additional 2,373,894 shares during the period. Capital World Investors grew its stake in Paychex by 155.6% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,478,325 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $304,338,000 after purchasing an additional 1,508,681 shares during the last quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Paychex in the first quarter worth about $146,617,000. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 57.2% during the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 2,179,930 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $267,695,000 after buying an additional 793,468 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FIL Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 32.4% in the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 2,548,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $303,492,000 after buying an additional 623,000 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Paychex news, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 14,434 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.21, for a total value of $1,807,281.14. Following the sale, the director now owns 5,383 shares in the company, valued at approximately $674,005.43. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Paychex news, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 14,434 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.21, for a total value of $1,807,281.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 5,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $674,005.43. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, 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 transaction of $11,901,732.30. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 437,345 shares in the company, valued at $51,287,448.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 147,163 shares of company stock valued at $17,537,817 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 11.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on PAYX. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Paychex from $120.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 1st. Bank of America increased their price objective on 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 reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $130.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Paychex from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Paychex from $126.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Paychex presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $122.62.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $130.00 on Friday. Paychex, Inc. has a twelve month low of $106.27 and a twelve month high of $130.15. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The company has a market cap of $46.80 billion, a PE ratio of 27.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 1.00. The company’s 50 day moving average is $123.27 and its 200 day moving average is $122.52.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 analyst estimates of $1.29 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 32.03% and a return on equity of 46.63%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.97 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 8th will be paid a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 8th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.02%. Paychex’s payout ratio is 83.94%.

About Paychex

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.