Avanza Fonder AB Lowers Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Avanza Fonder AB lowered its holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 1.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 23,890 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 390 shares during the quarter. Avanza Fonder AB’s holdings in Paychex were worth $3,702,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Paychex by 220.7% in the fourth quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 186 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the period. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new stake in shares of Paychex in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Paychex in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Paychex in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Avion Wealth lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 469.8% in the fourth quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 245 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on PAYX shares. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Paychex from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Paychex in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Barclays increased their price target on Paychex from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 31st. UBS Group upped 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Paychex from $148.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $142.55.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paychex

In other 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 transaction, the director now owns 78,455 shares in the company, valued at $11,709,408.75. This trade represents a 4.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 11.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Paychex Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of PAYX stock opened at $155.31 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $150.34 and its 200-day simple moving average is $147.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $55.94 billion, a PE ratio of 32.70, a P/E/G ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.92. Paychex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $115.40 and a fifty-two week high of $161.24.

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. Equities analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a $1.08 dividend. This is a positive change from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.78%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 90.00%.

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.