Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Shares Sold by Amalgamated Bank

Amalgamated Bank trimmed its holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 5.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 66,265 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 3,669 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank’s holdings in Paychex were worth $7,856,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Paychex by 0.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,541,306 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,750,472,000 after acquiring an additional 123,268 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its stake 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 worth $2,563,853,000 after purchasing an additional 2,373,894 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted 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 valued at $320,151,000 after purchasing an additional 56,793 shares during the last quarter. 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 purchasing an additional 623,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 155.6% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,478,325 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $304,338,000 after buying an additional 1,508,681 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Price Performance

PAYX opened at $133.17 on Friday. Paychex, Inc. has a twelve month low of $106.27 and a twelve month high of $137.40. The firm has a market cap of $47.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.52, a PEG ratio of 3.55 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. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $127.74 and a 200 day simple moving average of $123.72.

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, beating 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 company had revenue of $1.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.29 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.97 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 8th were issued 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 2.94%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 83.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paychex

In other news, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 101,490 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.27, for a total transaction 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 $51,287,448.15. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 101,490 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.27, for a total transaction of $11,901,732.30. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 437,345 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $51,287,448.15. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 8,954 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.60, for a total value of $1,106,714.40. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 79,232 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,793,075.20. 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 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 11.50% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $130.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a report on Thursday, June 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Paychex from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Morgan Stanley dropped 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. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Paychex from $111.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, Barclays dropped 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 report on Monday, July 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $123.00.

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.