Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Shares Sold by Mawer Investment Management Ltd.

Key Points

• Mawer Investment Management Ltd. sold 177,036 shares of Paychex, Inc., reducing its holdings by 23% to approximately 591,480 shares, valued at $91.25 million.
• CEO John B. Gibson and Chairman Martin Mucci both sold significant amounts of Paychex stock, indicating a decrease in insider ownership of 13.14% and 17.91%, respectively.
• Paychex recently announced a quarterly dividend of $1.08 per share, equating to an annualized dividend yield of 2.95%, with a payout ratio of 94.53%.

Mawer Investment Management Ltd. decreased its position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 23.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 591,480 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 177,036 shares during the period. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. owned approximately 0.16% of Paychex worth $91,254,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Summit Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Paychex by 2.4% in the first quarter. Summit Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,027 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $467,000 after buying an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Equity Partners increased its position in shares of Paychex by 0.9% in the first quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 7,623 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,176,000 after buying an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Paychex by 2.4% in the first quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,192 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $492,000 after buying an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Asset Dedication LLC increased its position in shares of Paychex by 12.1% in the first quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 711 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $110,000 after buying an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators increased its position in shares of Paychex by 7.6% in the first quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 1,148 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $177,000 after buying an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PAYX has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group set a $140.00 price target on Paychex and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Paychex from $140.00 to $148.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Citigroup set a $158.00 price objective on Paychex and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Paychex from $150.00 to $148.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on Paychex from $156.00 to $152.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Paychex presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $150.20.

Paychex Stock Down 3.8%

PAYX stock traded down $5.47 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $138.86. 2,726,901 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,144,466. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10. Paychex, Inc. has a 12-month low of $122.07 and a 12-month high of $161.24. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $149.51 and a 200-day moving average price of $148.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $50.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.88.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, June 25th. The business services provider reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.19. The company had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.38 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.01% and a net margin of 29.75%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.12 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 21st will be given a $1.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 21st. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. Paychex's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 94.53%.

Insider Activity at Paychex

In related news, CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,370 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.92, for a total transaction of $1,755,550.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 81,755 shares in the company, valued at $11,602,669.60. This represents a 13.14% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 97,526 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.17, for a total value of $14,157,849.42. Following the transaction, the chairman owned 446,917 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $64,878,940.89. The trade was a 17.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 11.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.