Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Shares Sold by Louisiana State Employees Retirement System

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System decreased its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 45,400 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,300 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Paychex were worth $6,092,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Paychex by 286.0% in the second quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 220 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 227.6% in the 2nd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 249 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex in the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex in the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, ESL Trust Services LLC acquired a new position in Paychex during the first quarter worth approximately $31,000. 83.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on PAYX. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Paychex from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $118.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Paychex from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Paychex from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $130.77.

Paychex Trading Down 1.0 %

NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $140.33 on Friday. Paychex, Inc. has a 1 year low of $106.27 and a 1 year high of $144.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 1.38. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $134.67 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $126.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $50.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.92, a PEG ratio of 3.88 and a beta of 1.00.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 1st. The business services provider reported $1.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 31.98% and a return on equity of 45.97%. The business’s revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.14 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 7th will be issued a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 83.58%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Paychex news, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.35, for a total transaction of $1,852,685.25. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 17,362 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,471,480.70. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Paychex news, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.35, for a total transaction of $1,852,685.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 17,362 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,471,480.70. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 26,428 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.03, for a total transaction of $3,674,284.84. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 14,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,018,020.45. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 68,608 shares of company stock worth $9,384,512 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 11.40% 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.