Insider Selling: Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Chairman Sells $14,157,849.42 in Stock

Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Chairman Martin Mucci sold 97,526 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.17, for a total transaction of $14,157,849.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman directly owned 446,917 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $64,878,940.89. The trade was a 17.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $143.29 on Monday. Paychex, Inc. has a twelve month low of $118.58 and a twelve month high of $161.24. The company’s 50 day moving average is $151.92 and its 200 day moving average is $148.26. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10. The company has a market cap of $51.61 billion, a PE ratio of 31.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.88.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 25th. The business services provider reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.19. Paychex had a net margin of 29.75% and a return on equity of 45.01%. The company had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.38 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.12 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Monday, July 21st will be issued a $1.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 21st. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.01%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 94.53%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on PAYX. Jefferies Financial Group set a $140.00 price objective on shares of Paychex and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Paychex from $156.00 to $152.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Cfra Research raised shares of Paychex to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Paychex from $155.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Paychex from $140.00 to $148.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Paychex presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $150.20.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Paychex

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Summit Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Summit Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,027 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $467,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the period. LGT Group Foundation grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. LGT Group Foundation now owns 2,528 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $390,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the period. Golden State Equity Partners grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 7,623 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,176,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the period. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,192 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $492,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the period. Finally, King Wealth Management Group grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 4.7% during the 1st quarter. King Wealth Management Group now owns 1,669 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $257,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

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.