Dagco Inc. Buys New Shares in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Dagco Inc. bought a new stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 644 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $99,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Summit Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. LGT Group Foundation lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 2.8% during the first quarter. LGT Group Foundation now owns 2,528 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $390,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. 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 in the last quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Paychex by 2.4% in the first quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,192 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $492,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Finally, King Wealth Management Group raised its holdings in Paychex by 4.7% in the first quarter. King Wealth Management Group now owns 1,669 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $257,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

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

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of PAYX opened at $134.99 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $146.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $148.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.63 billion, a PE ratio of 29.54, a P/E/G ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a quick ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10. Paychex, Inc. has a 52-week low of $123.35 and a 52-week high of $161.24.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, June 25th. The business services provider reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19. The firm had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.38 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 29.75% and a return on equity of 45.01%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.12 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 21st will be given a dividend of $1.08 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 21st. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 94.53%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on PAYX. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Paychex from $150.00 to $148.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 27th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of Paychex in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $160.00 price target for the company. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Paychex from $156.00 to $152.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Barclays set a $155.00 price target on shares of Paychex and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Paychex from $155.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $150.20.

Paychex Company Profile

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.