Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Shares Sold by Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio reduced its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 140,505 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 4,484 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio’s holdings in Paychex were worth $18,854,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 286.0% during the 2nd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 220 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares during the period. ORG Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Paychex by 227.6% in the 2nd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 249 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Paychex in the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. American National Bank boosted its position in shares of Paychex by 166.7% in the 2nd quarter. American National Bank now owns 288 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its position in shares of Paychex by 42.0% in the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 250 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 14,731 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.18, for a total transaction of $2,050,260.58. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,515 shares in the company, valued at $2,020,197.70. This trade represents a 50.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.35, for a total value of $1,852,685.25. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 17,362 shares in the company, valued at $2,471,480.70. This trade represents a 42.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 54,174 shares of company stock worth $7,577,231. 11.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on PAYX shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Paychex from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Paychex from $118.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Paychex has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $131.62.

Paychex Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $142.39 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. Paychex, Inc. has a 52-week low of $114.72 and a 52-week high of $150.71. The company has a 50 day moving average of $142.58 and a two-hundred day moving average of $131.57. The company has a market capitalization of $51.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.92 and a beta of 0.99.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 1st. The business services provider reported $1.16 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.31 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.97% and a net margin of 31.98%. The business’s revenue was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.14 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 7th were paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.75%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 83.58%.

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.