Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) Sets New 52-Week High at $138.30

Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $138.30 and last traded at $133.02, with a volume of 439819 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $134.19.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird dropped 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. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Paychex from $121.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective 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. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on Paychex from $111.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $125.62.

Paychex Stock Performance

The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $129.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $124.34. 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 firm has a market cap of $50.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 1.00.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.81%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 8th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is 83.94%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 9,615 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.60, for a total transaction of $1,207,644.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 5,383 shares in the company, valued at approximately $676,104.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 14,434 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 5,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $674,005.43. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 9,615 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.60, for a total value of $1,207,644.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 5,383 shares in the company, valued at $676,104.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 45,673 shares of company stock valued at $5,636,085. 11.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Paychex

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Czech National Bank boosted its stake in Paychex by 8.3% during the second quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 61,049 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,238,000 after buying an additional 4,703 shares in the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in Paychex in the fourth quarter worth about $1,400,000. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted 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 purchasing an additional 579,136 shares during the period. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. acquired a new stake in Paychex during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $23,330,000. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia grew its stake 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 valued at $9,880,000 after purchasing an additional 10,143 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.47% 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.