Teacher Retirement System of Texas Lowers Stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas trimmed its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 18.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 93,756 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 21,603 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas' holdings in Paychex were worth $14,465,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Golden State Equity Partners increased its stake in shares of Paychex by 0.9% in the first quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 7,623 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,176,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Paychex by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,192 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $492,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC raised its position in shares of Paychex by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC now owns 3,179 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $446,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators raised its stake in shares of Paychex by 7.6% in the 1st quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 1,148 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $177,000 after buying an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GeoWealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Paychex by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 4,120 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $578,000 after buying an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Cfra Research upgraded shares of Paychex to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $140.00 price objective on shares of Paychex and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Paychex from $156.00 to $152.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. UBS Group lowered their target price on Paychex from $155.00 to $145.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Paychex from $140.00 to $148.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have assigned a hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Paychex has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $149.11.

Paychex Trading Up 0.7%

NASDAQ PAYX opened at $147.02 on Friday. Paychex, Inc. has a one year low of $115.40 and a one year high of $161.24. The business's fifty day moving average is $152.10 and its 200-day moving average is $147.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.17, a PEG ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 0.88. 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 (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last announced 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. 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 analysts' expectations of $1.38 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.12 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 29th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were given a $1.08 dividend. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.94%. This is a boost from Paychex's previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. Paychex's dividend payout ratio is 94.53%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paychex

In other Paychex news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of the company's 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 completion of the sale, the director owned 78,455 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,709,408.75. This represents a 4.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 11.40% of the company's stock.

Paychex 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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