Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $138.30 and last traded at $133.02, with a volume of 439819 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $134.19.
A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on Paychex from $126.00 to $124.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Paychex from $121.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $122.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on Paychex from $111.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $125.62.
Read Our Latest Analysis on PAYX
The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $129.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $124.34. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The firm has a market cap of $50.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 1.00.
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 8th were given a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.81%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 8th. Paychex's dividend payout ratio is 83.94%.
In related news, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 9,615 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.60, for a total transaction of $1,207,644.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 5,383 shares in the company, valued at approximately $676,104.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 14,434 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.21, for a total transaction of $1,807,281.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 5,383 shares of the company's stock, valued at $674,005.43. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 9,615 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.60, for a total value of $1,207,644.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 5,383 shares in the company, valued at $676,104.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 45,673 shares of company stock valued at $5,636,085. 11.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.
Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Czech National Bank boosted its stake in Paychex by 8.3% during the second quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 61,049 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $7,238,000 after buying an additional 4,703 shares in the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in Paychex in the fourth quarter worth about $1,400,000. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in Paychex by 85.1% during the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,259,393 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $154,263,000 after purchasing an additional 579,136 shares during the period. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. acquired a new stake in Paychex during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $23,330,000. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 13.9% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 82,955 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $9,880,000 after purchasing an additional 10,143 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company's stock.
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.
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