Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Short Interest Down 14.3% in December

Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 14,850,000 shares, a drop of 14.3% from the November 30th total of 17,330,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,830,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 8.1 days. Approximately 4.6% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Paychex Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $141.27 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $142.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $133.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.87 billion, a PE ratio of 30.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.88 and a beta of 0.99. Paychex has a 12-month low of $114.72 and a 12-month high of $150.71.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.02. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.97% and a net margin of 31.98%. The business had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.08 EPS. Paychex’s revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Paychex will post 4.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 7th were given a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.77%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.53%.

Insider Activity at Paychex

In related news, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 26,428 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.03, for a total value of $3,674,284.84. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,515 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,018,020.45. The trade was a 64.55 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.35, for a total value of $1,852,685.25. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 17,362 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,471,480.70. This trade represents a 42.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 54,174 shares of company stock valued at $7,577,231. 11.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Paychex

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in Paychex by 38,655.2% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 799,907 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $107,340,000 after acquiring an additional 797,843 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its position in Paychex by 46.2% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,748,485 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $234,627,000 after purchasing an additional 552,540 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Paychex by 19.5% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,356,262 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $279,351,000 after buying an additional 384,184 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 3.8% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 9,524,870 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,278,142,000 after acquiring an additional 345,682 shares during the period. Finally, Unigestion Holding SA boosted its holdings in Paychex by 2,139.2% in the third quarter. Unigestion Holding SA now owns 295,692 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $39,667,000 after acquiring an additional 282,487 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on PAYX shares. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $148.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research report on Friday, December 20th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Paychex from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Paychex from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Paychex currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $132.23.

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.