Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Shares Sold by Navalign LLC

Navalign LLC lowered its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 26.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,540 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 928 shares during the quarter. Navalign LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $303,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Paychex by 0.6% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,931,007 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,451,943,000 after buying an additional 170,453 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 8.9% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 11,331,387 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,306,849,000 after purchasing an additional 927,584 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,982,029 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $913,599,000 after purchasing an additional 62,739 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,797,671 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $783,975,000 after purchasing an additional 178,316 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 102,768.9% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,537,548 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $524,359,000 after purchasing an additional 4,533,137 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 15,481 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.53, for a total value of $1,865,924.93. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 82,690 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,966,625.70. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 11.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on PAYX. Barclays decreased their target price on Paychex from $126.00 to $120.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 22nd. TD Cowen restated a “market perform” rating and set a $123.00 price target (down previously from $132.00) on shares of Paychex in a research note on Friday, December 22nd. Evercore ISI restated an “in-line” rating and set a $118.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research note on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Paychex from $134.00 to $126.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $130.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a report on Friday, December 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Paychex has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $122.77.

Paychex Price Performance

Paychex stock traded up $1.27 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $122.80. 1,616,753 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,677,974. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 1.23. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $121.95 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $119.51. The company has a market capitalization of $44.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.29, a PEG ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.94. Paychex, Inc. has a 12-month low of $104.09 and a 12-month high of $129.70.

Paychex declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Friday, January 19th that permits the company to repurchase $400.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the business services provider to reacquire up to 0.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 13th were given a $0.89 dividend. This represents a $3.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 12th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 79.11%.

Paychex Company 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.