Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Sells 1,160 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC cut its position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 9.2% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 11,500 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,160 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $1,774,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of PAYX. Allen Capital Group LLC grew its position in shares of Paychex by 1.5% in the first quarter. Allen Capital Group LLC now owns 7,164 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,105,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 6.9% in the 1st quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 1,771 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $273,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares in the last quarter. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex in the 1st quarter valued at $356,000. Midwest Professional Planners LTD. boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 14.9% during the 1st quarter. Midwest Professional Planners LTD. now owns 17,182 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,651,000 after acquiring an additional 2,228 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tectonic Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 6.7% during the 1st quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC now owns 52,205 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $8,054,000 after acquiring an additional 3,285 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,370 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.92, for a total transaction of $1,755,550.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 81,755 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,602,669.60. This trade represents a 13.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 97,526 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.17, for a total transaction of $14,157,849.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman directly owned 446,917 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,878,940.89. This represents a 17.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 11.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Paychex Stock Up 0.7%

PAYX opened at $143.29 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $51.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 0.88. Paychex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $121.33 and a fifty-two week high of $161.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.28. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $151.33 and its 200 day moving average is $148.21.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, June 25th. The business services provider reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19. The firm had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.38 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 29.75% and a return on equity of 45.01%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.12 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 21st will be paid a dividend of $1.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 21st. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.01%. Paychex’s payout ratio is 94.53%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on PAYX shares. Cfra Research raised Paychex to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $140.00 price target on Paychex and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Paychex from $140.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Paychex from $156.00 to $152.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets started coverage on Paychex in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $160.00 price objective on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Paychex currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $150.20.

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.