Bank of New York Mellon Corp Lowers Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp decreased its holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 4.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 9,070,548 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 394,532 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp’s holdings in Paychex were worth $1,399,404,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in 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 last quarter. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Paychex in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new position in Paychex in the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. Alpine Bank Wealth Management purchased a new position in Paychex in the first quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Paychex in the first quarter worth approximately $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of Paychex stock opened at $147.02 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $152.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $147.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.17, a PEG ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 0.88. Paychex, Inc. has a 12 month low of $115.40 and a 12 month high of $161.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.39.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, June 25th. The business services provider reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19. The business had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.38 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 29.75% and a return on equity of 45.01%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.12 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a $1.08 dividend. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.94%. This is a boost from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. Paychex’s payout ratio is presently 94.53%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Paychex from $155.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Cfra Research raised shares of Paychex to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Paychex from $156.00 to $152.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Paychex from $150.00 to $148.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $140.00 price objective on shares of Paychex and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $149.11.

Insider Activity at Paychex

In other 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 transaction, the director directly owned 78,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,709,408.75. The trade was a 4.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 11.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.