Railway Pension Investments Ltd Trims Stock Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Railway Pension Investments Ltd lowered its position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 20.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 187,637 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 48,696 shares during the quarter. Railway Pension Investments Ltd owned about 0.05% of Paychex worth $23,042,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Ethos Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Paychex by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC now owns 1,952 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $232,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the period. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Paychex by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,908 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $227,000 after buying an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in Paychex by 3.8% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,543 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $312,000 after buying an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. Rogco LP boosted its holdings in Paychex by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Rogco LP now owns 8,469 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,009,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dohj LLC grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Dohj LLC now owns 3,242 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $386,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Paychex

In other Paychex news, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 8,954 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 79,232 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,793,075.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 101,490 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.27, for a total transaction of $11,901,732.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 437,345 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $51,287,448.15. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 8,954 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 79,232 shares in the company, valued at $9,793,075.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 152,438 shares of company stock valued at $18,185,292 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 11.50% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PAYX traded up $0.79 during trading on Friday, hitting $127.28. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,415,604 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,943,847. Paychex, Inc. has a 12 month low of $106.27 and a 12 month high of $129.92. The firm has a market cap of $45.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.25, a P/E/G ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 1.00. 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 company has a 50-day moving average of $122.07 and a 200-day moving average of $122.08.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 26th. The business services provider reported $1.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.29 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 32.03% and a return on equity of 46.63%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.97 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 28th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 8th will be given 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 payout ratio is currently 83.94%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PAYX has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on shares of Paychex from $126.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Paychex from $111.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $130.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Barclays lowered 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Paychex from $125.00 to $122.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $122.46.

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.