Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) Reaches New 52-Week High at $133.55

Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $133.55 and last traded at $133.32, with a volume of 253145 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $132.22.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on PAYX. 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. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on Paychex from $126.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Paychex from $120.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Paychex from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $130.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $122.62.

Paychex Stock Performance

The firm has a 50-day moving average of $125.05 and a two-hundred day moving average of $123.11. The company has a quick ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The company has a market capitalization of $48.25 billion, a PE ratio of 28.31, a PEG ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 1.00.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 46.63% and a net margin of 32.03%. The company had revenue of $1.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.29 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.97 earnings per share. Paychex’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 8th were given a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 8th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.92%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 83.94%.

Insider Activity at Paychex

In other Paychex news, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 101,490 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.27, for a total value of $11,901,732.30. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 437,345 shares in the company, valued at approximately $51,287,448.15. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Paychex news, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 8,954 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.60, for a total transaction of $1,106,714.40. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 101,490 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.27, for a total value of $11,901,732.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 437,345 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $51,287,448.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 147,163 shares of company stock valued at $17,537,817 in the last three months. 11.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its holdings in shares of Paychex by 9.2% during the fourth quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 7,207 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $858,000 after purchasing an additional 608 shares during the last quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 24.1% during the 4th quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 3,608 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $430,000 after acquiring an additional 700 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 119.1% during the 4th quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 59,173 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,048,000 after acquiring an additional 32,171 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,691,438 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $201,474,000 after acquiring an additional 63,337 shares during the last quarter. Finally, USA Financial Formulas acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex during the 4th quarter valued at $93,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

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.