Texas Permanent School Fund Corp Reduces Stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Texas Permanent School Fund Corp lowered its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 20.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 52,937 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 13,264 shares during the period. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp’s holdings in Paychex were worth $6,276,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of PAYX. ORG Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Paychex by 227.6% in the second quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 249 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 173 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new stake in Paychex in the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Paychex during the first quarter valued at about $31,000. ESL Trust Services LLC bought a new position in Paychex during the first quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, American National Bank increased its stake in shares of Paychex by 166.7% in the second quarter. American National Bank now owns 288 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Stock Down 0.8 %

PAYX stock opened at $132.99 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $125.68 and its 200 day moving average is $123.25. The stock has a market cap of $47.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. Paychex, Inc. has a 1-year low of $106.27 and a 1-year high of $134.27.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 26th. The business services provider reported $1.12 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 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 company earned $0.97 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 8th were paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 8th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 83.94%.

Insider Transactions at Paychex

In related news, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 8,954 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 79,232 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,793,075.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 101,490 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chairman now owns 437,345 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $51,287,448.15. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 8,954 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.60, for a total transaction of $1,106,714.40. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 79,232 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,793,075.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 147,163 shares of company stock worth $17,537,817. 11.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on shares of Paychex from $126.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Barclays cut their price target on Paychex from $120.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $130.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Paychex from $125.00 to $122.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on Paychex from $111.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $122.62.

Paychex Profile

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.