Insider Selling: Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Director Sells $1,207,644.00 in Stock

Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 9,615 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the director now owns 5,383 shares in the company, valued at $676,104.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Paychex Stock Down 1.2 %

Paychex stock opened at $126.49 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $122.01 and its two-hundred day moving average is $122.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.37. Paychex, Inc. has a 1-year low of $106.27 and a 1-year high of $129.92. The stock has a market cap of $45.53 billion, a PE ratio of 27.09, a P/E/G ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 1.00.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its 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 return on equity of 46.63% and a net margin of 32.03%. The business had revenue of $1.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.29 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.97 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 28th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 8th will be given a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 8th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 83.94%.

Institutional Trading of Paychex

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in shares of Paychex by 12.8% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 20,878,283 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,563,853,000 after buying an additional 2,373,894 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in shares of Paychex by 155.6% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,478,325 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $304,338,000 after buying an additional 1,508,681 shares during the last quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Paychex during the first quarter worth about $146,617,000. TD Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of Paychex by 57.2% during the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 2,179,930 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $267,695,000 after buying an additional 793,468 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FIL Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Paychex by 32.4% during the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 2,548,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $303,492,000 after buying an additional 623,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Paychex from $126.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Barclays cut their price objective on Paychex from $120.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 1st. Bank of America upped their price objective on Paychex from $111.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $130.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Paychex from $125.00 to $122.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $122.46.

About Paychex

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.