Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Shares Sold by Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI

Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI trimmed its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 24.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,790 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 5,679 shares during the period. Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI’s holdings in Paychex were worth $2,745,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 120.0% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 6,936 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $973,000 after acquiring an additional 3,783 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Paychex by 15.1% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,419 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $990,000 after purchasing an additional 843 shares during the period. Tallon Kerry Patrick acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,419,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in Paychex by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 581,529 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $81,542,000 after acquiring an additional 23,359 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in Paychex in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,872,000. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on PAYX shares. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Paychex from $148.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 3rd. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Citigroup raised their target price on Paychex from $145.00 to $158.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Paychex from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $142.55.

Paychex Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of Paychex stock opened at $155.31 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $150.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $147.32. Paychex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $115.40 and a fifty-two week high of $161.24. The firm has a market cap of $55.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.70, a P/E/G ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.51 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.28% and a net margin of 32.02%. The business’s revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.38 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a dividend of $1.08 per share. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.78%. This is a boost from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is 90.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.25, for a total transaction of $544,762.50. Following the sale, the director now owns 78,455 shares in the company, valued at $11,709,408.75. This represents a 4.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 11.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.