Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Sells 714 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky decreased its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 25,477 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 714 shares during the period. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky’s holdings in Paychex were worth $3,021,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of PAYX. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Paychex by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 33,639 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,007,000 after acquiring an additional 797 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors bought a new position in Paychex during the fourth quarter worth about $115,494,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its holdings in Paychex by 89.0% during the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 48,943 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,830,000 after purchasing an additional 23,047 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its holdings in Paychex by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 22,118 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,634,000 after purchasing an additional 906 shares during the period. Finally, Cetera Advisor Networks LLC grew its holdings in Paychex by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC now owns 73,067 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $8,703,000 after purchasing an additional 4,177 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on PAYX. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Paychex from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Paychex from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird reduced 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. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Paychex from $111.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and twelve have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Paychex currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $130.77.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paychex

In other Paychex news, CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,670 shares of the business’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 transaction of $1,514,445.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 55,745 shares in the company, valued at $6,663,199.85. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Paychex news, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 8,954 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the vice president now owns 79,232 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,793,075.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,670 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.53, for a total transaction of $1,514,445.10. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 55,745 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,663,199.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 45,673 shares of company stock worth $5,636,085 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 11.50% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Stock Down 1.0 %

NASDAQ PAYX opened at $139.36 on Friday. 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 $142.04. The company has a 50 day moving average of $130.19 and a 200-day moving average of $124.70. The company has a market cap of $50.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.84, a PEG ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 1.00.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 1st. The business services provider reported $1.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by $0.02. Paychex had a net margin of 32.03% and a return on equity of 46.63%. The company had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.14 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 8th were given a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 8th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.81%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 83.94%.

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.