Robert Schrader Sells 2,600 Shares of Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) Stock

Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) CFO Robert Schrader sold 2,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.09, for a total value of $299,234.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 18,547 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,134,574.23. This trade represents a 12.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Paychex Trading Up 2.7%

PAYX opened at $122.13 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.26. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $103.59 and its 200-day moving average price is $98.46. Paychex, Inc. has a one year low of $85.45 and a one year high of $148.00. The stock has a market cap of $43.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.98 and a beta of 0.84.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 24th. The business services provider reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.31 by $0.01. Paychex had a return on equity of 50.90% and a net margin of 27.03%.The firm had revenue of $1.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.60 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.19 EPS. Paychex’s quarterly revenue was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Paychex has set its FY 2027 guidance at 5.900-6.010 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 5.96 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 28th will be given a dividend of $1.19 per share. This represents a $4.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 28th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 97.34%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Paychex

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Paychex by 12.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,348,625 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,750,669,000 after buying an additional 4,583,157 shares during the period. Capital International Investors raised its position in shares of Paychex by 59.1% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 30,265,174 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,395,583,000 after acquiring an additional 11,243,295 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,988,393 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,569,218,000 after purchasing an additional 216,045 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Paychex by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,550,173 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,295,698,000 after purchasing an additional 263,152 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Paychex by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,705,424 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,093,958,000 after purchasing an additional 78,760 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PAYX has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating on shares of Paychex in a report on Thursday, May 28th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $107.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research report on Monday, July 20th. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Paychex from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Paychex from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Monday, July 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $107.53.

About Paychex

Paychex, Inc, founded in 1971 by B. Thomas “Tom” Golisano and headquartered in Rochester, New York, is a provider of payroll, human resources, and benefits outsourcing solutions for small- and medium-sized businesses. The company’s core services include payroll processing and tax filing, employee benefits administration, retirement services, and workers’ compensation administration, designed to simplify back-office operations and help clients comply with regulatory and tax requirements.

Paychex offers an integrated technology platform, marketed under the Paychex Flex brand, which delivers cloud-based payroll, HR, time and attendance, and reporting tools.