Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Shares Purchased by Invesco Ltd.

Key Points

• Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Paychex, Inc. by 0.7% during the first quarter, owning 4,135,296 shares worth approximately $637.99 million.
• Paychex has a quarterly dividend of $1.08 per share, yielding about 3.1%, with a pay-out ratio of 94.53% announced for distribution on August 29th.
• The company reported a net margin of 29.75% and earnings per share of $1.19, surpassing analyst revenue expectations last quarter.

Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 0.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,135,296 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 30,670 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. owned 1.15% of Paychex worth $637,993,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Alpine Bank Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Paychex during the 1st quarter worth about $34,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Paychex during the 1st quarter worth about $34,000. Tsfg LLC raised its holdings in Paychex by 122.3% in the 1st quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 229 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 126 shares during the last quarter. Transce3nd LLC acquired a new stake in Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at about $44,000. Finally, HWG Holdings LP acquired a new stake in Paychex in the 1st quarter valued at about $46,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company's stock.

Paychex Stock Performance

Paychex stock opened at $141.19 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.28. The stock has a market cap of $50.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.91. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $147.42 and a 200-day simple moving average of $148.42. Paychex, Inc. has a 1-year low of $123.00 and a 1-year high of $161.24.

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

Paychex Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Paychex news, CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,370 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.92, for a total value 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 $11,602,669.60. This trade represents a 13.14% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 97,526 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.17, for a total transaction of $14,157,849.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman directly owned 446,917 shares of the company's stock, valued at $64,878,940.89. This represents a 17.91% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 11.40% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Paychex from $140.00 to $148.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Paychex from $150.00 to $148.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 27th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $140.00 price objective on shares of Paychex and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Paychex from $155.00 to $145.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Paychex from $156.00 to $152.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $150.20.

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.

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