Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado Sells 2,190 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado reduced its position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 4.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 45,410 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,190 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado’s holdings in Paychex were worth $5,576,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Chilton Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Paychex in the 1st quarter worth $31,000. ESL Trust Services LLC bought a new position in Paychex in the 1st quarter worth $31,000. Clear Investment Research LLC increased its stake in shares of Paychex by 55.8% in the 4th quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 307 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Paychex in the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Tidemark LLC bought a new position in shares of Paychex in the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on PAYX. Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $115.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $122.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of Paychex from $122.00 to $121.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Paychex from $120.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 1st. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Paychex from $126.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $122.46.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Paychex news, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 8,954 shares of Paychex 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 79,232 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,793,075.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 101,490 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.27, for a total transaction of $11,901,732.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 437,345 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $51,287,448.15. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 8,954 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 79,232 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,793,075.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 142,823 shares of company stock valued at $16,977,648 over the last three months. 11.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PAYX traded up $0.92 during trading on Monday, hitting $126.67. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 501,524 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,851,736. The company has a 50-day moving average of $121.91 and a 200-day moving average of $121.84. Paychex, Inc. has a 12 month low of $106.27 and a 12 month high of $129.66. 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 firm has a market cap of $45.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.93, a P/E/G ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 1.00.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 26th. The business services provider reported $1.12 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.29 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 32.03% and a return on equity of 46.63%. Paychex’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.97 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 28th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 8th. Paychex’s payout ratio is 83.94%.

About Paychex

Paychex, Inc provides integrated human capital management solutions for human resources (HR), payroll, benefits, 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.