Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Shares Sold by Wambolt & Associates LLC

Wambolt & Associates LLC lowered its holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 34.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 3,879 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,078 shares during the quarter. Wambolt & Associates LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $472,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in PAYX. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in Paychex by 229.8% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,630,944 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $188,655,000 after purchasing an additional 1,136,456 shares in the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. raised its position in Paychex by 67.4% during the third quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 309,046 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $35,642,000 after acquiring an additional 124,400 shares during the last quarter. Lido Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 1,435.0% in the third quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 49,843 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,748,000 after purchasing an additional 46,596 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex in the third quarter valued at approximately $219,000. Finally, KPP Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Paychex during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $264,000. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Paychex news, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 101,490 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.27, for a total value of $11,901,732.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 437,345 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $51,287,448.15. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Paychex news, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 101,490 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.27, for a total value of $11,901,732.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 437,345 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $51,287,448.15. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 19,709 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.55, for a total value of $2,454,755.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $670,452.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 11.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Paychex Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of Paychex stock traded up $0.11 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $117.54. The stock had a trading volume of 1,585,817 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,130,275. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.17, a P/E/G ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.00. Paychex, Inc. has a 1 year low of $106.27 and a 1 year high of $129.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $121.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $121.64.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 26th. The business services provider reported $1.12 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.02. Paychex had a net margin of 32.03% and a return on equity of 46.63%. The firm had revenue of $1.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.29 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.97 earnings per share. Paychex’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 10th were given a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 9th. This is a positive change from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.34%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 83.94%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. TD Cowen dropped their price target on Paychex from $122.00 to $121.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $115.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $122.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $130.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Paychex from $111.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $122.46.

Paychex Company Profile

Paychex, Inc provides integrated human capital management solutions for human resources (HR), payroll, benefits, 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.