STF Management LP Reduces Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

STF Management LP lowered its position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 4.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,762 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 271 shares during the period. STF Management LP’s holdings in Paychex were worth $683,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Paychex by 0.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,541,306 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,750,472,000 after purchasing an additional 123,268 shares during the period. Capital International Investors increased its stake in shares of Paychex by 12.8% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 20,878,283 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,563,853,000 after buying an additional 2,373,894 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Paychex by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,687,859 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $320,151,000 after buying an additional 56,793 shares during the last quarter. FIL Ltd increased its stake in shares of Paychex by 32.4% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 2,548,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $303,492,000 after buying an additional 623,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors increased its stake in shares of Paychex by 155.6% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,478,325 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $304,338,000 after buying an additional 1,508,681 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 101,490 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 437,345 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $51,287,448.15. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Paychex news, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 101,490 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chairman now directly 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 available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,670 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.53, for a total transaction of $1,514,445.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 55,745 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,663,199.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 147,163 shares of company stock valued at $17,537,817 over the last 90 days. 11.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of PAYX opened at $135.19 on Tuesday. Paychex, Inc. has a 1 year low of $106.27 and a 1 year high of $137.40. The company has a market cap of $48.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 1.37. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $126.74 and a 200-day moving average of $123.51.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 26th. The business services provider reported $1.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.29 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 32.03% and a return on equity of 46.63%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.97 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 8th were issued a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.90%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 8th. Paychex’s payout ratio is currently 83.94%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Paychex from $120.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 1st. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $122.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Paychex from $111.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Paychex from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Paychex from $121.00 to $126.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $123.00.

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.