Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Shares Sold by Fifth Third Bancorp

Fifth Third Bancorp lowered its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 11.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 32,428 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 4,116 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in Paychex were worth $3,845,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. abrdn plc lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 51.5% in the 4th quarter. abrdn plc now owns 142,591 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $16,984,000 after acquiring an additional 48,444 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its position in Paychex by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 29,967 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,569,000 after purchasing an additional 446 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its stake in Paychex by 22.3% during the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 63,899 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,611,000 after purchasing an additional 11,669 shares in the last quarter. GUNN & Co INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT INC. increased its position in shares of Paychex by 29.7% during the 4th quarter. GUNN & Co INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT INC. now owns 2,994 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $357,000 after purchasing an additional 686 shares during the period. Finally, Sage Mountain Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Paychex by 15.1% in the 4th quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 3,027 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $361,000 after buying an additional 396 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Paychex

In other news, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 19,709 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.55, for a total transaction of $2,454,755.95. Following the transaction, the director now owns 5,383 shares in the company, valued at approximately $670,452.65. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Paychex news, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 101,490 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chairman now directly owns 437,345 shares in the company, valued at $51,287,448.15. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 19,709 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 166,872 shares of company stock valued at $19,992,573. 11.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on PAYX. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of 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 restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $130.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a report on Thursday, June 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Paychex from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Barclays dropped their price target on Paychex from $120.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 1st. 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 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $122.62.

Paychex Stock Up 1.4 %

Paychex stock traded up $1.78 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $127.03. The company had a trading volume of 1,616,278 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,838,333. Paychex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $106.27 and a fifty-two week high of $129.92. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $45.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 1.00. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $122.92 and its 200-day moving average is $122.37.

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

Paychex Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 8th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.09%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is 83.94%.

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.