Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) saw a large decrease in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 14,850,000 shares, a decrease of 14.3% from the November 30th total of 17,330,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,830,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 8.1 days. Approximately 4.6% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 26,428 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.03, for a total value of $3,674,284.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 14,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,018,020.45. The trade was a 64.55 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.35, for a total transaction of $1,852,685.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 17,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,471,480.70. This represents a 42.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 54,174 shares of company stock valued at $7,577,231 in the last 90 days. 11.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Paychex

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PAYX. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Paychex by 38,655.2% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 799,907 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $107,340,000 after buying an additional 797,843 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in Paychex by 46.2% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,748,485 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $234,627,000 after acquiring an additional 552,540 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 19.5% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,356,262 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $279,351,000 after acquiring an additional 384,184 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Paychex by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 9,524,870 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,278,142,000 after purchasing an additional 345,682 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Unigestion Holding SA lifted its position in Paychex by 2,139.2% during the third quarter. Unigestion Holding SA now owns 295,692 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $39,667,000 after purchasing an additional 282,487 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Stock Down 1.0 %

PAYX stock opened at $141.27 on Monday. Paychex has a twelve month low of $114.72 and a twelve month high of $150.71. The company has a market cap of $50.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.12, a P/E/G ratio of 3.88 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $142.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $133.43.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 31.98% and a return on equity of 45.97%. Paychex’s revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.08 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Paychex will post 4.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 7th were given a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is 82.53%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Paychex from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $148.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Paychex from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $132.23.

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.