Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) Hits New 1-Year High at $138.30

Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $138.30 and last traded at $133.02, with a volume of 439819 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $134.19.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on PAYX shares. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Paychex from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Paychex from $125.00 to $122.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. 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. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Paychex from $118.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Paychex presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $125.62.

Paychex Stock Up 4.1 %

The company has a market cap of $50.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.54 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. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $129.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $124.34.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 8th were given a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 8th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 83.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paychex

In related news, CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,670 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.53, for a total transaction of $1,514,445.10. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 55,745 shares in the company, valued at $6,663,199.85. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 8,954 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 79,232 shares in the company, valued at $9,793,075.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,670 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 55,745 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,663,199.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 45,673 shares of company stock valued at $5,636,085. 11.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Paychex

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PAYX. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Paychex by 0.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,541,306 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,750,472,000 after acquiring an additional 123,268 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its stake in shares of Paychex by 12.8% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 20,878,283 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,563,853,000 after purchasing an additional 2,373,894 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,687,859 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $320,151,000 after buying an additional 56,793 shares during the last quarter. FIL Ltd grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 32.4% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 2,548,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $303,492,000 after buying an additional 623,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors increased its holdings in Paychex by 155.6% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,478,325 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $304,338,000 after buying an additional 1,508,681 shares during the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.