Insider Selling: Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Chairman Sells 101,490 Shares of Stock

Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) 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 completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 437,345 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $51,287,448.15. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Paychex Price Performance

PAYX stock opened at $117.43 on Friday. Paychex, Inc. has a one year low of $106.27 and a one year high of $129.70. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $122.13 and a two-hundred day moving average of $121.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.27 billion, a PE ratio of 25.15, a P/E/G ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its quarterly 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. Paychex had a net margin of 32.03% and a return on equity of 46.63%. The business had revenue of $1.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.29 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.97 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 10th were issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. This is an increase from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.34%. Paychex’s payout ratio is currently 83.94%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Paychex by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,541,306 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,750,472,000 after acquiring an additional 123,268 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its position 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 valued at $2,563,853,000 after purchasing an additional 2,373,894 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in Paychex by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,598,560 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $415,022,000 after buying an additional 182,648 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in 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 worth $320,151,000 after buying an additional 56,793 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FIL Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 32.4% during the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 2,548,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $303,492,000 after buying an additional 623,000 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on PAYX shares. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $122.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “in-line” rating and set a $118.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on Paychex from $122.00 to $121.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on Paychex from $126.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $115.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $122.46.

Paychex Company Profile

Paychex, Inc provides integrated human capital management solutions for human resources (HR), payroll, benefits, 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.