Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Shares Acquired by Ieq Capital LLC

Ieq Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 6.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 24,105 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,510 shares during the quarter. Ieq Capital LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $2,858,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 10.4% in the second quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 5,132 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $608,000 after buying an additional 485 shares during the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new position in Paychex in the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,144,000. Miramar Capital LLC increased its position in Paychex by 51.9% in the 2nd quarter. Miramar Capital LLC now owns 67,746 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $8,032,000 after acquiring an additional 23,138 shares during the period. Sienna Gestion lifted its position in Paychex by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Sienna Gestion now owns 46,065 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,459,000 after acquiring an additional 498 shares during the period. Finally, Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 29,738 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,526,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 101,490 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.27, for a total transaction of $11,901,732.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 437,345 shares in the company, valued at approximately $51,287,448.15. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Paychex news, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 101,490 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.27, for a total transaction of $11,901,732.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 437,345 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $51,287,448.15. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,670 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.53, for a total value of $1,514,445.10. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 have sold 147,163 shares of company stock worth $17,537,817 over the last ninety days. 11.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PAYX has been the subject of several analyst reports. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Paychex from $126.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $130.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Paychex from $121.00 to $126.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Paychex from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on Paychex from $111.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $123.00.

Paychex Stock Performance

NASDAQ PAYX opened at $133.26 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $128.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $123.82. The company has a market capitalization of $47.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.54, a PEG ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.00. Paychex, Inc. has a 1-year low of $106.27 and a 1-year high of $137.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.37.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. Paychex had a return on equity of 46.63% and a net margin of 32.03%. The business had revenue of $1.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.29 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.97 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 8th were issued a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 8th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 83.94%.

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.