Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Shares Sold by Stephens Inc. AR

Stephens Inc. AR trimmed its holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 53.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 52,645 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 59,568 shares during the quarter. Stephens Inc. AR's holdings in Paychex were worth $8,122,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of PAYX. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in Paychex by 26.3% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 5,710 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $801,000 after buying an additional 1,190 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in Paychex by 117.4% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,057 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $569,000 after buying an additional 2,191 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. raised its holdings in Paychex by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 23,820 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $3,340,000 after buying an additional 379 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in Paychex during the 4th quarter worth about $1,241,000. Finally, Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. acquired a new stake in Paychex during the 4th quarter worth about $251,000. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PAYX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Paychex from $150.00 to $148.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Paychex from $140.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $140.00 price objective on Paychex and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on Paychex in a report on Thursday. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $160.00 target price on the stock. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on Paychex from $155.00 to $145.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $150.20.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of PAYX opened at $143.29 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $51.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.35, a P/E/G ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.88. Paychex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $118.58 and a fifty-two week high of $161.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.39. The business's 50-day moving average is $151.92 and its 200-day moving average is $148.26.

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

Paychex Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 3.01%. Paychex's dividend payout ratio is currently 94.53%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.25, for a total value of $544,762.50. Following the transaction, the director owned 78,455 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,709,408.75. This represents a 4.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 97,526 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, 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.

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