State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Trims Stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D lowered its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 36.4% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 115,806 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 66,270 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Paychex were worth $13,730,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in PAYX. ORG Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Paychex by 227.6% during the 2nd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 249 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new position in Paychex during the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Paychex in the first quarter worth approximately $31,000. ESL Trust Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Paychex during the 1st quarter worth $31,000. Finally, American National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 166.7% in the 2nd quarter. American National Bank now owns 288 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PAYX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays decreased their price objective on Paychex from $120.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 1st. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Paychex from $125.00 to $122.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company 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 stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of Paychex from $126.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Paychex currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $123.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paychex

In other news, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 8,954 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.60, for a total transaction of $1,106,714.40. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 79,232 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,793,075.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Paychex news, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 8,954 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.60, for a total value of $1,106,714.40. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 79,232 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,793,075.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 9,615 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.60, for a total transaction of $1,207,644.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 5,383 shares in the company, valued at $676,104.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 147,163 shares of company stock valued at $17,537,817. Corporate insiders own 11.50% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of Paychex stock opened at $135.09 on Friday. 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 firm has a fifty day moving average price of $126.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $123.41. Paychex, Inc. has a 1 year low of $106.27 and a 1 year high of $136.40. The stock has a market cap of $48.60 billion, a PE ratio of 28.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 1.00.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, June 26th. The business services provider reported $1.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $1.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.29 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.97 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 29th. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.90%. Paychex’s payout ratio is 83.94%.

Paychex Company Profile

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.