Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 14,850,000 shares, a drop of 14.3% from the November 30th total of 17,330,000 shares. Currently, 4.6% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,830,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 8.1 days.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of PAYX traded up $0.41 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $140.37. 522,107 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,806,380. Paychex has a 12 month low of $114.72 and a 12 month high of $150.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $50.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.88 and a beta of 0.99. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $142.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $133.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 1.38.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.02. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.97% and a net margin of 31.98%. The firm had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.08 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Paychex will post 4.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 7th were given a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.79%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 82.53%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paychex

In other news, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 26,428 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.03, for a total transaction of $3,674,284.84. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 14,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,018,020.45. This trade represents a 64.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.35, for a total value of $1,852,685.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 17,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,471,480.70. This represents a 42.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 54,174 shares of company stock worth $7,577,231 in the last 90 days. 11.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Paychex

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 2.0% in the second quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 22,636 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,684,000 after acquiring an additional 434 shares in the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Paychex in the second quarter worth approximately $56,000. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new position in Paychex during the 2nd quarter valued at $85,000. IFG Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of Paychex by 6.8% in the 2nd quarter. IFG Advisory LLC now owns 20,466 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,426,000 after buying an additional 1,304 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NBT Bank N A NY lifted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 324.5% in the second quarter. NBT Bank N A NY now owns 16,974 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,012,000 after buying an additional 12,975 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on PAYX. Citigroup raised their price objective on Paychex from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Paychex from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $132.23.

About Paychex

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.