Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Holdings Lowered by Weaver Capital Management LLC

Weaver Capital Management LLC lowered its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 6.6% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,925 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 137 shares during the period. Weaver Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $228,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Czech National Bank raised its stake in Paychex by 8.3% during the 2nd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 61,049 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,238,000 after purchasing an additional 4,703 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Paychex in the 4th quarter worth about $1,400,000. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in Paychex by 85.1% during the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,259,393 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $154,263,000 after acquiring an additional 579,136 shares during the period. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at about $23,330,000. Finally, Nomura Holdings Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Paychex in the fourth quarter worth approximately $774,000. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Paychex

In related news, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 14,434 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.21, for a total transaction of $1,807,281.14. Following the sale, the director now owns 5,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $674,005.43. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 9,615 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.60, for a total transaction of $1,207,644.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 5,383 shares in the company, valued at $676,104.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 14,434 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.21, for a total value of $1,807,281.14. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $674,005.43. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 147,163 shares of company stock worth $17,537,817 in the last three months. Insiders own 11.50% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Stock Up 0.1 %

NASDAQ PAYX opened at $132.04 on Thursday. Paychex, Inc. has a 1-year low of $106.27 and a 1-year high of $133.12. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $124.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $122.98. The company has a market capitalization of $47.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.27, a PEG ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $1.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.29 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 46.63% and a net margin of 32.03%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.97 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 8th were paid a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 8th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 83.94%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on PAYX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Bank of America upped their price target 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. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Paychex from $126.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Paychex from $125.00 to $122.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $130.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $122.62.

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.