Toronto Dominion Bank Sells 27,720 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Toronto Dominion Bank lessened its position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 14.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 169,386 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 27,720 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank’s holdings in Paychex were worth $20,082,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI raised its stake in Paychex by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI now owns 7,362 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $873,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Paychex by 3.8% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,543 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $312,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. Rockland Trust Co. lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 9,074 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,114,000 after buying an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. KCM Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. KCM Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,190 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $392,000 after buying an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sfmg LLC boosted its holdings in Paychex by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Sfmg LLC now owns 7,151 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $848,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on PAYX. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Paychex from $118.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $130.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Bank of America upped their price target on Paychex from $111.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of Paychex from $126.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $125.62.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Paychex news, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 14,434 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.21, for a total transaction of $1,807,281.14. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,383 shares in the company, valued at $674,005.43. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 14,434 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.21, for a total value of $1,807,281.14. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 5,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $674,005.43. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 79,232 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,793,075.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 147,163 shares of company stock worth $17,537,817 in the last quarter. 11.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Paychex Price Performance

PAYX stock opened at $132.99 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $128.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $124.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.37. The stock has a market cap of $47.87 billion, a PE ratio of 28.48, a P/E/G ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 1.00. Paychex, Inc. has a one year low of $106.27 and a one year high of $137.40.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, June 26th. The business services provider reported $1.12 EPS 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.29 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.97 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 8th were issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 8th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.95%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is 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.