Ensign Peak Advisors Inc Sells 11,119 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc decreased its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 10.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 94,542 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 11,119 shares during the quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc’s holdings in Paychex were worth $11,209,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Summit Trail Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 5.1% in the 2nd quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 5,591 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $663,000 after acquiring an additional 269 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. lifted its position in Paychex by 1.8% in the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 112,093 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $13,290,000 after purchasing an additional 1,980 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Paychex by 45.0% during the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 72,329 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $8,575,000 after buying an additional 22,457 shares in the last quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ increased its holdings in Paychex by 27.9% in the 2nd quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 369,125 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $43,727,000 after buying an additional 80,427 shares during the period. Finally, Ranch Capital Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Paychex by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Ranch Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 18,673 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,214,000 after buying an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on PAYX shares. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $130.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. TD Cowen increased their target price on Paychex from $121.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on Paychex from $126.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Bank of America boosted their price target on Paychex from $111.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Paychex from $118.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $124.08.

Insider Activity at Paychex

In other Paychex news, CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,670 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 55,745 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,663,199.85. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,670 shares of Paychex 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 55,745 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,663,199.85. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, 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 value of $11,901,732.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 437,345 shares in the company, valued at approximately $51,287,448.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 147,163 shares of company stock worth $17,537,817 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 11.50% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Price Performance

PAYX opened at $134.06 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.37. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $128.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $123.94. Paychex, Inc. has a one year low of $106.27 and a one year high of $137.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $48.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.00.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, June 26th. The business services provider reported $1.12 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.29 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 46.63% and a net margin of 32.03%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.97 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

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

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.