Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Reduces Stock Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio reduced its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 6.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 151,646 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 10,350 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio’s holdings in Paychex were worth $18,622,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in Paychex by 12.8% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 20,878,283 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,563,853,000 after purchasing an additional 2,373,894 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in Paychex by 155.6% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,478,325 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $304,338,000 after purchasing an additional 1,508,681 shares in the last quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Paychex in the 1st quarter worth approximately $146,617,000. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in Paychex by 57.2% in the 1st quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 2,179,930 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $267,695,000 after purchasing an additional 793,468 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FIL Ltd lifted its stake in Paychex by 32.4% in the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 2,548,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $303,492,000 after purchasing an additional 623,000 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Paychex Stock Up 0.5 %

NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $127.45 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $45.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.15, a P/E/G ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 1.37. Paychex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $106.27 and a fifty-two week high of $129.66. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $121.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $121.90.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 26th. The business services provider reported $1.12 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $1.29 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.97 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 28th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 8th will be paid a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 8th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.08%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 83.94%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wedbush reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $115.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price 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. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $130.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Paychex from $120.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 1st. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their price target 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Paychex currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $122.46.

Insider Transactions at Paychex

In other news, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 19,709 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.55, for a total value of $2,454,755.95. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 5,383 shares in the company, valued at $670,452.65. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 19,709 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.55, for a total value of $2,454,755.95. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 5,383 shares in the company, valued at $670,452.65. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 8,954 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the vice president now owns 79,232 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,793,075.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 142,823 shares of company stock worth $16,977,648 over the last three months. 11.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Paychex 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.