Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Shares Bought by First Hawaiian Bank

First Hawaiian Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 20.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 16,902 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,869 shares during the quarter. First Hawaiian Bank’s holdings in Paychex were worth $2,004,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PAYX. Outlook Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Paychex during the 4th quarter valued at about $214,000. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its stake in Paychex by 80.2% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 343,269 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $40,887,000 after buying an additional 152,818 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Paychex by 366.5% during the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 20,863 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,485,000 after buying an additional 16,391 shares during the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in Paychex during the fourth quarter worth about $1,400,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in Paychex by 85.1% in the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,259,393 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $154,263,000 after acquiring an additional 579,136 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Paychex news, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 19,709 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.55, for a total value of $2,454,755.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,383 shares in the company, valued at $670,452.65. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 101,490 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.27, for a total value of $11,901,732.30. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 437,345 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $51,287,448.15. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 19,709 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.55, for a total value of $2,454,755.95. Following the sale, the director now owns 5,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $670,452.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 152,438 shares of company stock worth $18,185,292. 11.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on PAYX. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $130.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $122.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Paychex from $111.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Paychex from $126.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on Paychex from $120.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $122.46.

Paychex Stock Down 2.0 %

PAYX stock traded down $2.58 during trading on Monday, reaching $124.70. The stock had a trading volume of 2,256,900 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,866,155. Paychex, Inc. has a 1-year low of $106.27 and a 1-year high of $129.92. The company has a market capitalization of $44.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.70, a PEG ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $122.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $122.11.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 26th. The business services provider reported $1.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.29 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 46.63% and a net margin of 32.03%. Paychex’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.97 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 28th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 8th will be given a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 8th. Paychex’s payout ratio is currently 83.94%.

Paychex Profile

Paychex, Inc provides integrated human capital management solutions for human resources (HR), payroll, benefits, 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.