Bath Savings Trust Co Sells 145 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Bath Savings Trust Co lowered its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 0.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,435 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 145 shares during the quarter. Bath Savings Trust Co’s holdings in Paychex were worth $2,536,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in PAYX. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $184,216,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Paychex by 16.9% in the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Amundi raised its holdings in Paychex by 77.9% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,534,145 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $215,164,000 after buying an additional 672,010 shares during the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group raised its holdings in Paychex by 86.5% in the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 1,355,713 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $189,746,000 after buying an additional 628,912 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in Paychex by 30,382.8% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 568,809 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $79,758,000 after buying an additional 566,943 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Paychex

In related news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.25, for a total value of $544,762.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 78,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,709,408.75. This trade represents a 4.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 11.40% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of PAYX stock opened at $157.42 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $56.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.91. Paychex, Inc. has a 52 week low of $115.40 and a 52 week high of $159.75. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $149.34 and a 200-day moving average of $146.52.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.51 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.51 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 32.02% and a return on equity of 45.28%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.38 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast 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 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were given a dividend of $1.08 per share. This is an increase from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.74%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 90.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on PAYX. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Paychex from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Paychex from $145.00 to $158.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Cfra Research raised shares of Paychex to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $141.00.

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.