US Bancorp DE Sells 9,521 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Key Points

• US Bancorp DE reduced its stake in Paychex, Inc. by 4.4%, now owning 207,206 shares valued at approximately $31.97 million.
• Paychex reported earnings of $1.19 per share for the quarter, meeting analysts' expectations, with revenue of $1.43 billion exceeding projections.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $1.08, yielding 3.1%, with a significant payout ratio of 94.53%.

US Bancorp DE cut its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 4.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 207,206 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 9,521 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE owned approximately 0.06% of Paychex worth $31,968,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 26,905,031 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $3,772,544,000 after buying an additional 166,155 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Paychex by 16.9% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,807,554 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $674,115,000 after acquiring an additional 694,651 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Paychex by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,104,626 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $575,551,000 after acquiring an additional 208,130 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in Paychex by 14.7% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,130,781 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $438,998,000 after acquiring an additional 401,552 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Paychex by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,683,141 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $376,226,000 after acquiring an additional 105,133 shares during the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Paychex Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of Paychex stock traded down $0.25 on Tuesday, hitting $139.18. 1,976,749 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,174,916. Paychex, Inc. has a one year low of $122.07 and a one year 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 1.28. The company has a fifty day moving average of $148.84 and a two-hundred day moving average of $148.60. The company has a market capitalization of $50.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.91.

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, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.19. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.01% and a net margin of 29.75%. The business had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.38 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.12 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on PAYX shares. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Paychex from $155.00 to $145.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Paychex from $156.00 to $152.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Paychex from $150.00 to $148.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Paychex from $140.00 to $148.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on Paychex in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $160.00 price target on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $150.20.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 97,526 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, 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 value of $1,755,550.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 11.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.