Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Shares Bought by Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund

Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund raised its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 0.7% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 27,534 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund’s holdings in Paychex were worth $3,264,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. ORG Partners LLC raised its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 173 shares during the period. Chilton Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Paychex during the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. ESL Trust Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Paychex during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $31,000. American National Bank grew its stake in Paychex by 166.7% in the 2nd quarter. American National Bank now owns 288 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the period. Finally, Clear Investment Research LLC increased its holdings in Paychex by 55.8% in the 4th quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 307 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of Paychex stock opened at $132.04 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $124.29 and its 200 day moving average price is $122.98. The company has a market cap of $47.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.27, a PEG ratio of 3.47 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. Paychex, Inc. has a one year low of $106.27 and a one year high of $133.12.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 26th. The business services provider reported $1.12 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.02. Paychex had a return on equity of 46.63% and a net margin of 32.03%. The business had revenue of $1.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.29 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.97 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 8th were paid a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 8th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.97%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 83.94%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Paychex from $111.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $130.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a report on Thursday, June 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Paychex from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Barclays decreased their target price on Paychex from $120.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Paychex from $125.00 to $122.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $122.62.

Insider Transactions at Paychex

In other Paychex news, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 9,615 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.60, for a total value of $1,207,644.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 5,383 shares in the company, valued at $676,104.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Paychex news, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 9,615 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.60, for a total transaction of $1,207,644.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 5,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $676,104.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 101,490 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.27, for a total transaction of $11,901,732.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 437,345 shares in the company, valued at $51,287,448.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 147,163 shares of company stock worth $17,537,817 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 11.50% of the company’s stock.

Paychex 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.