Harbor Investment Advisory LLC Sells 391 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Harbor Investment Advisory LLC lowered its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 5.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,384 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 391 shares during the quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $1,139,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PAYX. LVW Advisors LLC raised its stake in Paychex by 2.1% in the first quarter. LVW Advisors LLC now owns 19,270 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,973,000 after buying an additional 396 shares during the last quarter. Strong Tower Advisory Services raised its stake in Paychex by 7.6% in the first quarter. Strong Tower Advisory Services now owns 15,780 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,217,000 after buying an additional 1,113 shares during the last quarter. Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc raised its stake in Paychex by 826.2% in the first quarter. Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc now owns 13,958 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,153,000 after buying an additional 12,451 shares during the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. raised its stake in Paychex by 87,600.0% in the first quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 23,679 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,653,000 after buying an additional 23,652 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank raised its stake in Paychex by 6.0% in the first quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 73,603 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $11,355,000 after buying an additional 4,153 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Stock Down 0.3%

Paychex stock opened at $157.50 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $56.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.16, 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 business’s 50-day moving average price is $149.76 and its 200 day moving average price is $146.70. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.51 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.28% and a net margin of 32.02%. Paychex’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.38 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 29th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a dividend of $1.08 per share. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.74%. This is a positive change from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 90.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Paychex news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.25, for a total value of $544,762.50. Following the sale, the director now directly 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 11.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on PAYX shares. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Paychex from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Citigroup increased their price target on Paychex from $145.00 to $158.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating on shares of Paychex in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Paychex has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $141.00.

Paychex Company 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.