Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Shares Acquired by Distillate Capital Partners LLC

Distillate Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 121,829.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 132,903 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 132,794 shares during the period. Distillate Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $15,757,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Czech National Bank raised its position in shares of Paychex by 8.3% during the 2nd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 61,049 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,238,000 after acquiring an additional 4,703 shares in the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Paychex in the 4th quarter worth about $1,400,000. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in Paychex by 85.1% during the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,259,393 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $154,263,000 after acquiring an additional 579,136 shares during the period. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. bought a new position in shares of Paychex during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $23,330,000. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia lifted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 13.9% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 82,955 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $9,880,000 after purchasing an additional 10,143 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of PAYX opened at $134.06 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 1.37. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $128.28 and a 200-day simple moving average of $123.94. Paychex, Inc. has a 52 week low of $106.27 and a 52 week high of $137.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.71, a P/E/G ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.00.

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

Paychex Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 8th were issued a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 8th. Paychex’s payout ratio is 83.94%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $122.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price 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. 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. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Paychex from $121.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Paychex from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $124.08.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paychex

In related news, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 14,434 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.21, for a total transaction of $1,807,281.14. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 5,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $674,005.43. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 14,434 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at approximately $674,005.43. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 9,615 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.60, for a total value of $1,207,644.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 5,383 shares in the company, valued at approximately $676,104.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 147,163 shares of company stock worth $17,537,817 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 11.50% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Company 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.