Novem Group Buys 5,125 Shares of Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

Novem Group increased its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 120.3% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 9,384 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,125 shares during the period. Novem Group’s holdings in Paychex were worth $1,365,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. American National Bank & Trust lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 122.4% during the 2nd quarter. American National Bank & Trust now owns 1,263 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $184,000 after buying an additional 695 shares during the period. Exeter Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Exeter Financial LLC now owns 12,718 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,850,000 after buying an additional 166 shares during the period. Evanson Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Paychex during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $282,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio boosted its stake in Paychex by 1.6% in the second quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 129,115 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $18,781,000 after purchasing an additional 2,014 shares in the last quarter. Finally, IMS Capital Management acquired a new position in Paychex in the second quarter worth $2,556,000. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PAYX has been the subject of a number of research reports. Citigroup lowered their target price on Paychex from $158.00 to $148.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Paychex from $152.00 to $142.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $165.00 target price on Paychex and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Paychex from $150.00 to $148.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Barclays set a $155.00 target price on Paychex and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Paychex currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $146.50.

Paychex Price Performance

Paychex stock opened at $126.69 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $137.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $145.22. The stock has a market cap of $45.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.91. Paychex, Inc. has a 12-month low of $126.13 and a 12-month high of $161.24. 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 (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 25th. The business services provider reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.19. The business had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.38 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.01% and a net margin of 29.75%.During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.12 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Monday, July 21st were issued a $1.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 21st. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 94.53%.

Insider Transactions at Paychex

In related news, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 97,526 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the chairman owned 446,917 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,878,940.89. This represents a 17.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,370 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.92, for a total value of $1,755,550.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 81,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,602,669.60. This represents a 13.14% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

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.