Victory Capital Management Inc. Sells 105,320 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Victory Capital Management Inc. decreased its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 24.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 318,869 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 105,320 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned about 0.09% of Paychex worth $49,195,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Paychex by 220.7% during the 4th quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 186 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the period. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Paychex in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Paychex in the first quarter worth $34,000. Alpine Bank Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Paychex in the first quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Tsfg LLC increased its holdings in shares of Paychex by 122.3% in the first quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 229 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Paychex from $140.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Barclays set a $155.00 price target on shares of Paychex and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Paychex from $150.00 to $148.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 27th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of Paychex in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $160.00 target price for the company. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $140.00 target price on shares of Paychex and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $150.20.

Paychex Trading Up 0.1%

NASDAQ PAYX traded up $0.17 during trading on Friday, hitting $143.46. 2,487,335 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,976,253. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $151.17 and a two-hundred day moving average of $148.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.39. Paychex, Inc. has a 12-month low of $121.33 and a 12-month high of $161.24. The firm has a market cap of $51.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.39, a PEG ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 0.88.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $1.43 billion during 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 business posted $1.12 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Monday, July 21st will be paid a $1.08 dividend. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 21st. Paychex's payout ratio is currently 94.53%.

Insider Transactions at Paychex

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 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through 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 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. 11.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.