Powers Advisory Group LLC Sells 134 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Powers Advisory Group LLC lowered its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 1.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 7,616 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 134 shares during the period. Powers Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $1,175,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE bought a new position in shares of Paychex in the first quarter worth $262,000. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC increased its position in shares of Paychex by 1,086.7% in the first quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 2,314 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $357,000 after purchasing an additional 2,119 shares during the period. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH increased its position in shares of Paychex by 4.9% in the first quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 343,644 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $53,017,000 after purchasing an additional 16,119 shares during the period. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Paychex in the first quarter worth $443,000. Finally, Kelly Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Paychex in the first quarter worth $256,000. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of PAYX stock opened at $153.22 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $151.13 and its 200-day moving average price is $147.47. Paychex, Inc. has a 12 month low of $115.40 and a 12 month high of $161.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $55.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.26, a PEG ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.01. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.28% and a net margin of 32.02%. The firm had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.51 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.38 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a dividend of $1.08 per share. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.82%. 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 presently 90.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on PAYX. Cfra Research upgraded Paychex to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Paychex from $148.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Paychex from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $142.55.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of Paychex 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 directly owns 78,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,709,408.75. The trade was a 4.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 11.40% of the company’s stock.

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.