Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Shares Sold by Profund Advisors LLC

Profund Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 31,120 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 523 shares during the quarter. Profund Advisors LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $3,690,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in PAYX. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Paychex by 13.1% in the second quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 72,535 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $8,600,000 after purchasing an additional 8,374 shares during the last quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 5.1% during the 2nd quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 5,591 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $663,000 after acquiring an additional 269 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. boosted its position in Paychex by 1.8% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 112,093 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $13,290,000 after purchasing an additional 1,980 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 45.0% during the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 72,329 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $8,575,000 after buying an additional 22,457 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ increased its stake in shares of Paychex by 27.9% during the second quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 369,125 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $43,727,000 after purchasing an additional 80,427 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $130.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised 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. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $121.00 to $126.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Paychex from $126.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Paychex has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $123.00.

Insider Transactions at Paychex

In related news, CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,670 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The stock was 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 owns 55,745 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,663,199.85. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,670 shares of Paychex 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 55,745 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,663,199.85. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 101,490 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chairman now owns 437,345 shares in the company, valued at $51,287,448.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 147,163 shares of company stock valued at $17,537,817 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 11.50% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Stock Performance

NASDAQ PAYX opened at $133.26 on Monday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $128.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $123.85. Paychex, Inc. has a 12-month low of $106.27 and a 12-month high of $137.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.54, a PEG ratio of 3.58 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.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its earnings results 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. Paychex had a net margin of 32.03% and a return on equity of 46.63%. The company had revenue of $1.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.29 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.97 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 8th were paid a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 8th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.94%. Paychex’s payout ratio is 83.94%.

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.