Courier Capital LLC Sells 200 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Courier Capital LLC reduced its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 0.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 26,092 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 200 shares during the period. Courier Capital LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $3,204,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital International Investors increased its position in shares of Paychex by 9.0% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 18,504,389 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,204,115,000 after buying an additional 1,523,520 shares during the period. Confluence Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Paychex during the first quarter valued at about $146,617,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of Paychex by 229.8% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,630,944 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $188,655,000 after buying an additional 1,136,456 shares during the period. Capital World Investors bought a new stake in shares of Paychex during the fourth quarter valued at about $115,494,000. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc increased its position in shares of Paychex by 123.5% during the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,386,462 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $165,141,000 after buying an additional 766,252 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Paychex Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of PAYX traded up $0.72 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $118.56. The company had a trading volume of 6,554,513 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,854,744. The company has a market capitalization of $42.68 billion, a PE ratio of 25.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. Paychex, Inc. has a one year low of $106.27 and a one year high of $129.70. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $122.40 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $122.06.

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

Paychex Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 10th were paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.31%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 9th. This is an increase from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. Paychex’s payout ratio is presently 83.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paychex

In other news, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 19,709 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.55, for a total value of $2,454,755.95. Following the sale, the director now owns 5,383 shares in the company, valued at $670,452.65. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 11.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on PAYX. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $130.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research report on Thursday. Wedbush reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $115.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Evercore ISI reissued an “in-line” rating and set a $118.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Paychex from $111.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Paychex from $125.00 to $122.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Paychex currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $122.62.

Paychex 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.