Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.98

Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, October 10th, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Thursday, November 7th will be given a dividend of 0.98 per share by the business services provider on Wednesday, November 27th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.80%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 7th.

Paychex has increased its dividend payment by an average of 11.7% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 14 consecutive years. Paychex has a dividend payout ratio of 74.2% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Paychex to earn $5.31 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.92 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 73.8%.

Paychex Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $139.76 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $136.69 and its 200 day moving average price is $127.78. Paychex has a 1-year low of $109.98 and a 1-year high of $144.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 1.38. The firm has a market cap of $50.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.82 and a beta of 0.99.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 1st. The business services provider reported $1.16 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.14 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Paychex will post 4.98 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Paychex from $118.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $130.77.

Insider Activity at Paychex

In related news, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 26,428 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.03, for a total value of $3,674,284.84. Following the completion of 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.35, for a total value of $1,852,685.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 17,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,471,480.70. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 26,428 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.03, for a total transaction of $3,674,284.84. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,018,020.45. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 54,174 shares of company stock valued at $7,577,231. 11.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.