Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Sells 1,383 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky trimmed its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 5.0% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 26,191 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,383 shares during the quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky’s holdings in Paychex were worth $3,216,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of PAYX. Cetera Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Paychex by 74.2% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 40,033 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,916,000 after buying an additional 17,056 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its holdings in Paychex by 220.0% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 117,347 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $14,410,000 after buying an additional 80,678 shares during the period. Dodds Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Paychex by 11.5% during the 1st quarter. Dodds Wealth LLC now owns 1,962 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $241,000 after buying an additional 203 shares during the period. PGGM Investments lifted its holdings in Paychex by 5.9% during the 1st quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 13,760 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,690,000 after buying an additional 763 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB acquired a new position in Paychex during the 1st quarter worth about $18,352,000. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 8,954 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.60, for a total value 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 filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 8,954 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.60, for a total value 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 filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 9,615 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.60, for a total value of $1,207,644.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $676,104.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 152,438 shares of company stock valued at $18,185,292. Corporate insiders own 11.50% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Stock Up 0.6 %

Paychex stock traded up $0.79 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $127.28. The stock had a trading volume of 2,415,604 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,943,847. Paychex, Inc. has a 12 month low of $106.27 and a 12 month high of $129.92. The company has a market capitalization of $45.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.25, a PEG ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $122.07 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $122.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

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

Paychex Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 8th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 83.94%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on PAYX. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Paychex from $125.00 to $122.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $130.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Paychex from $126.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Paychex from $111.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on Paychex from $120.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Paychex has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $122.46.

Paychex Profile

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.