Paychex, Inc. Announces Quarterly Dividend of $1.08 (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, July 9th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 21st will be paid a dividend of 1.08 per share by the business services provider on Friday, August 29th. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.01%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 21st.

Paychex has a payout ratio of 76.2% indicating that its dividend is currently covered by earnings, but may not be in the future if the company's earnings decline. Equities research analysts expect Paychex to earn $5.31 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $4.32 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 81.4%.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of Paychex stock traded down $2.02 during trading on Friday, hitting $143.29. The stock had a trading volume of 1,910,327 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,979,388. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.39. The firm has a market cap of $51.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.35, a PEG ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 0.88. The business has a fifty day moving average of $151.92 and a two-hundred day moving average of $148.17. Paychex has a fifty-two week low of $117.43 and a fifty-two week high of $161.24.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 25th. The business services provider reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.19. The business had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.38 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.01% and a net margin of 29.75%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.12 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Paychex will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 78,455 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,709,408.75. This represents a 4.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 97,526 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $64,878,940.89. This represents a 17.91% 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.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PAYX. Woodline Partners LP acquired a new position in Paychex in the 1st quarter worth about $3,333,000. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in shares of Paychex by 26.3% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 5,710 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $801,000 after acquiring an additional 1,190 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bison Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Paychex by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 4,035 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $566,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PAYX has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Paychex from $150.00 to $148.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 27th. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on Paychex in a report on Thursday. They set a "market perform" rating and a $160.00 target price for the company. Barclays set a $155.00 target price on Paychex and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $165.00 target price on Paychex and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $140.00 target price on Paychex and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Paychex has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price 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.