State of Alaska Department of Revenue Sells 1,675 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

State of Alaska Department of Revenue lessened its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 3.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 40,888 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,675 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue’s holdings in Paychex were worth $5,486,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in PAYX. Czech National Bank raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 8.3% in the 2nd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 61,049 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,238,000 after purchasing an additional 4,703 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 85.1% during the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,259,393 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $154,263,000 after buying an additional 579,136 shares during the last quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 4.9% during the 1st quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 10,250 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,259,000 after acquiring an additional 477 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. increased its holdings in Paychex by 5.8% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 110,113 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $13,522,000 after acquiring an additional 6,033 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BDF Gestion purchased a new stake in Paychex in the 2nd quarter worth about $2,796,000. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Stock Down 0.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $140.27 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $135.28 and a 200 day moving average of $126.95. Paychex, Inc. has a 52-week low of $106.27 and a 52-week high of $144.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 1.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.48 billion, a PE ratio of 29.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.86 and a beta of 1.00.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 1st. The business services provider reported $1.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by $0.02. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.97% and a net margin of 31.98%. The company had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.31 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.14 EPS. Paychex’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 7th will be given a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.79%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 7th. Paychex’s payout ratio is presently 83.58%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.35, for a total transaction of $1,852,685.25. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 17,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,471,480.70. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Paychex news, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 14,434 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 5,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $674,005.43. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 17,362 shares in the company, valued at $2,471,480.70. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 68,608 shares of company stock valued at $9,384,512 over the last three months. Insiders own 11.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on PAYX shares. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Paychex from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Citigroup raised their price target on Paychex from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Paychex from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $130.77.

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.