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

KCM Investment Advisors LLC cut its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 5.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,002 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 188 shares during the quarter. KCM Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $356,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of PAYX. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in Paychex by 12.8% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 20,878,283 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,563,853,000 after purchasing an additional 2,373,894 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in Paychex by 155.6% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,478,325 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $304,338,000 after purchasing an additional 1,508,681 shares during the last quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Paychex in the 1st quarter valued at about $146,617,000. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in Paychex by 57.2% in the 1st quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 2,179,930 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $267,695,000 after purchasing an additional 793,468 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FIL Ltd boosted its holdings in Paychex by 32.4% in the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 2,548,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $303,492,000 after purchasing an additional 623,000 shares during the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paychex

In other news, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 8,954 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.60, for a total value of $1,106,714.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 79,232 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,793,075.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 8,954 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.60, for a total transaction of $1,106,714.40. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 79,232 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,793,075.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 14,434 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.21, for a total transaction of $1,807,281.14. Following the sale, the director now owns 5,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $674,005.43. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 147,163 shares of company stock valued at $17,537,817. Insiders own 11.50% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of PAYX opened at $131.20 on Friday. Paychex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $106.27 and a fifty-two week high of $132.13. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $123.65 and its 200 day moving average price is $122.72. The company has a market cap of $47.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.09, a PEG ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced 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 firm had revenue of $1.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.29 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.97 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 8th were given a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.99%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 8th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.