Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Director Sells $544,762.50 in Stock

Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.25, for a total transaction of $544,762.50. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 78,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,709,408.75. This represents a 4.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PAYX traded down $2.05 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $145.57. 1,558,080 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,915,286. Paychex, Inc. has a one year low of $115.40 and a one year high of $158.37. The company’s 50 day moving average is $148.03 and its 200 day moving average is $144.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.65, a P/E/G ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.88.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.01. Paychex had a net margin of 32.02% and a return on equity of 45.28%. The company had revenue of $1.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.51 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.38 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PAYX has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Paychex from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Cfra Research raised Paychex to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Paychex from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $148.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $141.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Paychex

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PAYX. Monument Capital Management grew its position in shares of Paychex by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Monument Capital Management now owns 1,714 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $240,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 2,881 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $423,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the period. Emerald Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Paychex by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Emerald Advisors LLC now owns 3,017 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $423,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Weaver Capital Management LLC increased its position in Paychex by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Weaver Capital Management LLC now owns 2,121 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $297,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Adero Partners LLC raised its stake in Paychex by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Adero Partners LLC now owns 2,391 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $335,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

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.