New York State Common Retirement Fund Has $35.80 Million Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

New York State Common Retirement Fund lessened its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 27.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 232,065 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 85,675 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned approximately 0.06% of Paychex worth $35,803,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of PAYX. Golden State Equity Partners grew its position in shares of Paychex by 0.9% in the first quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 7,623 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,176,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC grew its position in shares of Paychex by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC now owns 3,179 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $446,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators grew its position in shares of Paychex by 7.6% in the first quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 1,148 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $177,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GeoWealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Paychex by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 4,120 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $578,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on PAYX shares. Jefferies Financial Group set a $140.00 price target on Paychex and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Paychex from $140.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Cfra Research raised Paychex to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on Paychex in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $160.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Barclays set a $155.00 price target on Paychex and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $150.20.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Paychex news, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 97,526 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 directly owned 446,917 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $64,878,940.89. This trade represents a 17.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 11.40% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of PAYX stock opened at $144.31 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $151.82 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $148.28. Paychex, Inc. has a 12 month low of $118.58 and a 12 month high of $161.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.98 billion, a PE ratio of 31.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.88.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 25th. The business services provider reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.19. The business had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.38 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.01% and a net margin of 29.75%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.12 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Monday, July 21st will be issued a dividend of $1.08 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 21st. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.99%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 94.53%.

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.