Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) Director Sells $844,103.52 in Stock

Key Points

• Paychex director Joseph Velli sold 7,839 shares at an average price of $107.68, totaling $844,103.52 and reducing his direct stake by 8.75%.
• Paychex reported quarterly EPS of $1.34, exceeding estimates by $0.02, while revenue rose 5.9% year over year to $1.63 billion.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.19, equivalent to a $4.76 annualized payout and a 4.3% yield; analysts maintain a consensus “Hold” rating with a $127.59 price target.

Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) Director Joseph Velli sold 7,839 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.68, for a total transaction of $844,103.52. Following the sale, the director directly owned 81,725 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,800,148. The trade was a 8.75% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Paychex Stock Performance

PAYX traded up $0.85 on Friday, reaching $111.63. The company had a trading volume of 5,508,709 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,485,495. The stock has a market cap of $39.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a current ratio of 1.28. Paychex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $85.45 and a fifty-two week high of $128.78. The company's fifty day moving average is $114.74 and its 200 day moving average is $105.11.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $0.02. Paychex had a net margin of 27.35% and a return on equity of 52.78%. The firm had revenue of $1.63 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.63 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.22 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Paychex has set its FY 2027 guidance at 5.896-6.006 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 5.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 25th. Investors of record on Monday, October 26th will be paid a $1.19 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 26th. This represents a $4.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.3%. Paychex's payout ratio is 94.44%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PAYX has been the subject of a number of research reports. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on Paychex from $120.00 to $110.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Paychex from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $105.00 to $115.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 24th. Guggenheim reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Paychex in a research note on Thursday, September 17th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $112.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 24th. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of Paychex from $117.00 to $105.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $127.59.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. V Square Quantitative Management LLC increased its holdings in Paychex by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 11,684 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,151,000 after buying an additional 229 shares during the period. Tompkins Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of Paychex by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp now owns 14,099 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,389,000 after acquiring an additional 359 shares in the last quarter. Rockland Trust Co. boosted its position in shares of Paychex by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 13,293 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,309,000 after acquiring an additional 792 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Paychex by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 14,411,341 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,417,067,000 after acquiring an additional 361,713 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Talon Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in Paychex in the second quarter valued at approximately $220,000. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company's stock.

About Paychex

Paychex, Inc NASDAQ: PAYX provides payroll, human resources and employee benefits solutions for businesses of varying sizes. Its services are designed to help employers manage workforce administration, compliance and employee-related processes through integrated software and professional support.

The company's offerings include payroll processing, time and attendance tracking, human resources administration, recruiting and onboarding tools, benefits administration, retirement services, workers' compensation and business insurance solutions.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.