Motco Reduces Stock Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Key Points

• Motco reduced its stake in Paychex, Inc. by 11.6%, now holding 40,251 shares valued at approximately $6.21 million.
• CEO John B. Gibson and Chairman Martin Mucci both sold significant shares recently, reducing their holdings by 13.14% and 17.91% respectively.
• Paychex declared a quarterly dividend of $1.08 per share, with a record date of July 21st, yielding 2.92%.

Motco reduced its position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 11.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 40,251 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 5,292 shares during the period. Motco's holdings in Paychex were worth $6,210,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Paychex by 220.7% in the 4th quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 186 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Paychex in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Alpine Bank Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Paychex during the 1st quarter valued at about $34,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Paychex during the 1st quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Tsfg LLC raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 122.3% during the 1st quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 229 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Paychex Stock Down 0.3%

PAYX stock traded down $0.41 on Wednesday, hitting $146.88. 560,330 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,131,941. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a current ratio of 1.28. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $149.95 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $148.61. The stock has a market cap of $52.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.88. Paychex, Inc. has a 12-month low of $122.07 and a 12-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 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.19. The business had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.38 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.01% and a net margin of 29.75%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.12 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Monday, July 21st will be issued a $1.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 21st. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.94%. Paychex's payout ratio is 94.53%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on PAYX. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on Paychex in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. They set a "market perform" rating and a $160.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Paychex from $150.00 to $148.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 27th. 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. UBS Group cut their target price on Paychex from $155.00 to $145.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Citigroup set a $158.00 price target on Paychex and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Paychex currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $150.20.

Insider Transactions at Paychex

In other Paychex news, CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,370 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owned 81,755 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,602,669.60. This represents a 13.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 97,526 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chairman directly owned 446,917 shares of the company's stock, valued at $64,878,940.89. The trade was a 17.91% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate 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.