Financial Advisors Network Inc. Sells 30,000 Shares of Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

Financial Advisors Network Inc. cut its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 81.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 6,974 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 30,000 shares during the quarter. Financial Advisors Network Inc.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $1,076,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in PAYX. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Paychex by 20,236.7% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,153,089 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $177,899,000 after buying an additional 1,147,419 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex in the first quarter valued at $134,192,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Paychex by 7.3% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,782,173 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,663,474,000 after buying an additional 737,542 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Paychex by 16.9% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,807,554 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $674,115,000 after buying an additional 694,651 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Neuberger Berman Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Paychex by 117.6% in the first quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 1,217,092 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $187,512,000 after buying an additional 657,871 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Paychex

In related news, CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,370 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.92, for a total value of $1,755,550.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 81,755 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,602,669.60. The trade was a 13.14% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 97,526 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.17, for a total value of $14,157,849.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman owned 446,917 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 currently owned by insiders.

Paychex Price Performance

Paychex stock opened at $138.25 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $49.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.25, a PEG ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10. The business has a 50-day moving average of $145.29 and a 200-day moving average of $148.11. Paychex, Inc. has a 1 year low of $124.64 and a 1 year high of $161.24.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 25th. The business services provider reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.19. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.01% and a net margin of 29.75%. The business had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.38 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.12 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Monday, July 21st will be given a $1.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 21st. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. Paychex’s payout ratio is currently 94.53%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PAYX has been the subject of a number of research reports. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Paychex from $156.00 to $152.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Paychex from $148.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Paychex from $155.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Citigroup set a $158.00 price objective on Paychex and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on Paychex in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $160.00 price objective for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Paychex currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $150.70.

Paychex 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.