Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Chairman Sells $14,157,849.42 in Stock

Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) Chairman Martin Mucci sold 97,526 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 approximately $64,878,940.89. This represents a 17.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Paychex Stock Down 1.4%

Shares of PAYX traded down $2.02 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $143.29. 1,910,327 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,977,914. The company has a market cap of $51.61 billion, a PE ratio of 31.35, a P/E/G ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.88. Paychex, Inc. has a 52 week low of $116.57 and a 52 week high of $161.24. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $152.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $148.16. 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 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 company had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.38 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.01% and a net margin of 29.75%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.12 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.01%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 21st. Paychex's payout ratio is currently 94.53%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Paychex

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Select Equity Group L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 99.0% in the first quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 3,494,312 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $539,102,000 after buying an additional 1,738,372 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Paychex by 20,236.7% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,153,089 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $177,899,000 after purchasing an additional 1,147,419 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Paychex in the first quarter valued at about $134,192,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Paychex by 7.3% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,782,173 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,663,474,000 after purchasing an additional 737,542 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Paychex by 16.9% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,807,554 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $674,115,000 after buying an additional 694,651 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PAYX has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Paychex from $155.00 to $145.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Cfra Research upgraded shares of Paychex to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Paychex from $150.00 to $148.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Paychex from $140.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, Citigroup set a $158.00 target price on Paychex and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Paychex has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $150.20.

Paychex Company 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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