Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Shares Sold by New Age Alpha Advisors LLC

Key Points

• New Age Alpha Advisors LLC has reduced its stake in Paychex, Inc. by 54.1%, dropping to 26,607 shares valued at approximately $4.1 million after selling 31,336 shares in the first quarter.
• Paychex recently declared a quarterly dividend of $1.08 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend of $4.32 and a yield of 3.1%.
• Paychex reported quarterly earnings of $1.19 EPS, exceeding revenue expectations with $1.43 billion, while maintaining a net margin of 29.75%.

New Age Alpha Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 54.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 26,607 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 31,336 shares during the period. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC's holdings in Paychex were worth $4,105,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MWA Asset Management boosted its position in Paychex by 6.5% in the 1st quarter. MWA Asset Management now owns 4,269 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $659,000 after buying an additional 262 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its holdings in Paychex by 0.7% in the first quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 263,492 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $40,652,000 after purchasing an additional 1,854 shares during the period. Cheviot Value Management LLC acquired a new position in Paychex during the 1st quarter worth $65,000. Liberty Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Paychex during the 1st quarter worth about $10,450,000. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia Trust Co. purchased a new stake in Paychex during the 1st quarter worth about $207,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company's stock.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of PAYX stock traded up $1.44 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $140.52. The stock had a trading volume of 1,885,117 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,073,937. The firm has a market cap of $50.62 billion, a PE ratio of 30.75, a PEG ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.91. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $147.75 and its 200-day simple moving average is $148.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.28. Paychex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $122.07 and a fifty-two week high of $161.24.

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

Paychex Dividend Announcement

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 dividend of $1.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 21st. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. Paychex's payout ratio is currently 94.53%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paychex

In related news, CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,370 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 81,755 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,602,669.60. This represents a 13.14% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 97,526 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 446,917 shares of the company's stock, valued at $64,878,940.89. This trade represents a 17.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 11.40% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Paychex from $156.00 to $152.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Paychex from $140.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Citigroup set a $158.00 price target on Paychex and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on Paychex in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. They set a "market perform" rating and a $160.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $165.00 target price on Paychex and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $150.20.

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.