TIAA Trust National Association Sells 1,809 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

TIAA Trust National Association reduced its position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 26.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,022 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,809 shares during the quarter. TIAA Trust National Association’s holdings in Paychex were worth $775,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Summit Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in Paychex by 2.4% during the first quarter. Summit Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,027 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $467,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the period. Golden State Equity Partners lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 0.9% during the first quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 7,623 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,176,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 2.4% during the first quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,192 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $492,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. King Wealth Management Group lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 4.7% during the first quarter. King Wealth Management Group now owns 1,669 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $257,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Asset Dedication LLC lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 12.1% during the first quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 711 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $110,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PAYX has been the subject of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Paychex from $140.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on Paychex in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $160.00 target price for the company. Jefferies Financial Group set a $140.00 target price on Paychex and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Citigroup set a $158.00 target price on Paychex and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $165.00 target price on Paychex and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $150.20.

Insider Activity

In other Paychex news, CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,370 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.92, for a total value of $1,755,550.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 81,755 shares in the company, valued at $11,602,669.60. The trade was a 13.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 97,526 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.17, for a total value of $14,157,849.42. Following the sale, the chairman owned 446,917 shares in the company, valued at $64,878,940.89. The trade was a 17.91% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 11.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Paychex Stock Performance

PAYX stock opened at $139.43 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.28. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $148.84 and a 200 day moving average price of $148.60. The company has a market capitalization of $50.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.51, a PEG ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.91. Paychex, Inc. has a 1-year low of $122.07 and a 1-year high of $161.24.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 25th. The business services provider reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.19. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.01% and a net margin of 29.75%. The firm had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.38 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.12 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 21st will be paid a $1.08 dividend. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 21st. Paychex’s payout ratio is 94.53%.

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.