Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board Cuts Stock Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Key Points

• Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board reduced its holdings in Paychex, Inc. by 51.9%, now holding 4,055 shares valued at $626,000.
• Chairman Martin Mucci and CEO John B. Gibson both sold significant amounts of stock, with Mucci selling 97,526 shares for over $14 million and Gibson selling 12,370 shares for approximately $1.76 million.
• Paychex recently announced a quarterly dividend of $1.08 per share, representing an annualized yield of 3.1%, with a payout ratio of 94.53%.

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board cut its position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 51.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,055 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 4,376 shares during the period. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board's holdings in Paychex were worth $626,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Alpine Bank Wealth Management bought a new position in Paychex during the 1st quarter worth about $34,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Paychex during the first quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Tsfg LLC increased its holdings in Paychex by 122.3% during the first quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 229 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 126 shares during the period. Transce3nd LLC bought a new position in Paychex in the fourth quarter worth approximately $44,000. Finally, HWG Holdings LP purchased a new stake in Paychex during the first quarter worth $46,000. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Paychex from $140.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Barclays set a $155.00 price target on shares of Paychex and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $140.00 price objective on shares of Paychex and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Citigroup set a $158.00 price objective on Paychex and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Paychex from $156.00 to $152.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Paychex has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $150.20.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Paychex news, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 97,526 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.17, for a total value of $14,157,849.42. Following the completion of 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,370 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 81,755 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,602,669.60. This trade represents a 13.14% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 11.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of Paychex stock traded down $3.61 on Tuesday, reaching $134.99. 3,123,380 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,158,050. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $147.04 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $148.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.54, a PEG ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a quick ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10. Paychex, Inc. has a twelve month low of $123.35 and a twelve month high of $161.24.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 25th. The business services provider reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.19. The company had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.38 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 29.75% and a return on equity of 45.01%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.12 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 21st will be given a $1.08 dividend. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 21st. Paychex's dividend payout ratio is currently 94.53%.

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.