AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC Reduces Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 10.8% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 5,844 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 706 shares during the quarter. AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $902,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of PAYX. Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Paychex by 220.7% during the fourth quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 186 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new stake in shares of Paychex during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Paychex during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new position in Paychex in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, BankPlus Trust Department acquired a new position in Paychex in the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. 83.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,709,408.75. The trade was a 4.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 11.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on PAYX. Barclays lifted their price target on Paychex from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Cfra Research upgraded Paychex to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on Paychex from $148.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Paychex in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $143.36.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of PAYX stock opened at $151.25 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The business has a 50 day moving average of $151.89 and a two-hundred day moving average of $147.79. Paychex, Inc. has a 52 week low of $115.40 and a 52 week high of $161.24. The company has a market cap of $54.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.51, a PEG ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.92.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.51 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.30% and a net margin of 31.99%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.38 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 29th. Stockholders 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 2.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This is a boost from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Paychex’s payout ratio is 90.00%.

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.