Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Shares Sold by Kentucky Retirement Systems

Kentucky Retirement Systems decreased its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,142 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 178 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Paychex were worth $2,862,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. TrinityPoint Wealth LLC grew its position in Paychex by 17.3% in the fourth quarter. TrinityPoint Wealth LLC now owns 4,181 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $498,000 after acquiring an additional 617 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Paychex during the 4th quarter valued at $33,812,000. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in Paychex during the 4th quarter worth $237,000. D.A. Davidson & CO. lifted its holdings in Paychex by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 30,304 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,610,000 after buying an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. boosted its position in Paychex by 10.3% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 6,743 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $803,000 after buying an additional 632 shares during the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays dropped their target price on Paychex from $120.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 1st. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Paychex from $125.00 to $122.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Paychex from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Paychex from $126.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Paychex from $121.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $123.00.

Paychex Trading Up 0.1 %

NASDAQ PAYX opened at $133.26 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.94 billion, a PE ratio of 28.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.00. Paychex, Inc. has a one year low of $106.27 and a one year high of $137.40. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $128.03 and a 200-day simple moving average of $123.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 1.37.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 26th. The business services provider reported $1.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.29 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.97 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 8th were issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 8th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 83.94%.

Insider Transactions at Paychex

In related news, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 14,434 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now directly owns 5,383 shares in the company, valued at approximately $674,005.43. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 101,490 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 437,345 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $51,287,448.15. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 14,434 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.21, for a total transaction of $1,807,281.14. Following the sale, the director now owns 5,383 shares in the company, valued at $674,005.43. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 147,163 shares of company stock worth $17,537,817. Insiders own 11.50% of the company’s stock.

About Paychex

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.