Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Shares Sold by First Hawaiian Bank

Posted by Defense World Staff on Mar 22nd, 2023

First Hawaiian Bank lessened its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX – Get Rating) by 1.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 12,560 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 188 shares during the quarter. First Hawaiian Bank’s holdings in Paychex were worth $1,451,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PAYX. Fairfield Bush & CO. acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex in the first quarter valued at approximately $269,000. Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its position in Paychex by 35.7% in the first quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 5,455 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $747,000 after acquiring an additional 1,436 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. grew its position in Paychex by 118.3% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 91,985 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $12,554,000 after acquiring an additional 49,851 shares during the period. Prudential PLC purchased a new position in Paychex in the first quarter worth approximately $1,019,000. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new position in Paychex in the first quarter worth approximately $237,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Paychex

In related news, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 13,744 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.30, for a total value of $1,584,683.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 33,268 shares in the company, valued at $3,835,800.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 11.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Paychex Trading Up 0.5 %

PAYX opened at $110.29 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $39.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.23, a P/E/G ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.98. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $114.07 and a 200-day simple moving average of $116.34. Paychex, Inc. has a 52 week low of $105.66 and a 52 week high of $141.92. The company has a quick ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX – Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Thursday, December 22nd. The business services provider reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.18 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.50% and a net margin of 30.45%. Paychex’s revenue was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.91 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, February 9th were issued a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 8th. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.87%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 78.02%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PAYX has been the subject of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Paychex from $130.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on Paychex from $123.00 to $116.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on Paychex from $130.00 to $120.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 22nd. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Paychex in a research report on Thursday, March 16th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Moffett Nathanson increased their price objective on Paychex to $130.00 in a research report on Friday, December 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $123.69.

Paychex Profile

(Get Rating)

Paychex, Inc engages in the provision of human capital management solutions for payroll, human resources, insurance and retirement for small and medium-sized businesses. Its solutions include payroll services, hiring services, business insurance, time and attendance, employee benefits, finance and payments, human resources services and startup services.