Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Shares Sold by Texas Permanent School Fund Corp

Texas Permanent School Fund Corp decreased its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 0.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 66,201 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 182 shares during the period. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp’s holdings in Paychex were worth $8,129,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Paychex by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,418,038 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,623,093,000 after acquiring an additional 487,031 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in shares of Paychex by 9.0% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 18,504,389 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,204,115,000 after acquiring an additional 1,523,520 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Paychex by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,687,859 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $320,151,000 after acquiring an additional 56,793 shares during the last quarter. FIL Ltd grew 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 worth $303,492,000 after acquiring an additional 623,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Paychex by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,691,438 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $201,474,000 after acquiring an additional 63,337 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on PAYX. 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 lifted their price target on Paychex from $111.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Paychex from $125.00 to $122.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Barclays lowered their price target on Paychex from $120.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 1st. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Paychex from $126.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $122.46.

Paychex Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PAYX traded up $0.09 on Thursday, reaching $117.06. The company had a trading volume of 1,609,294 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,844,507. Paychex, Inc. has a twelve month low of $106.27 and a twelve month high of $129.70. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $42.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.07, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 1.00. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $121.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $121.45.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 26th. The business services provider reported $1.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.02. Paychex had a return on equity of 46.63% and a net margin of 32.03%. The business had revenue of $1.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.29 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.97 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 28th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 8th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.35%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is 83.94%.

Insider Activity at Paychex

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