Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Position Reduced by Inlet Private Wealth LLC

Inlet Private Wealth LLC cut its position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 1.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 25,155 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 300 shares during the quarter. Inlet Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $3,881,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of PAYX. Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings 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 buying an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Alpine Bank Wealth Management acquired a new position in Paychex in the first quarter worth approximately $34,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Paychex in the first quarter worth approximately $34,000. Tsfg LLC increased its holdings in Paychex by 122.3% in the first quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 229 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 126 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Transce3nd LLC acquired a new position in Paychex in the fourth quarter worth approximately $44,000. 83.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on PAYX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Paychex from $140.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Paychex from $156.00 to $152.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $140.00 price objective on Paychex and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Citigroup set a $158.00 price target on Paychex and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets began coverage on Paychex in a report on Thursday, July 10th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $160.00 price target on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Paychex presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $150.20.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paychex

In other news, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 97,526 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.17, for a total value of $14,157,849.42. Following the sale, the chairman owned 446,917 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,878,940.89. This trade represents a 17.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,370 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.92, for a total transaction of $1,755,550.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 81,755 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,602,669.60. The trade was a 13.14% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 11.40% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of Paychex stock opened at $147.99 on Monday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $150.40 and its 200-day simple moving average is $148.57. The company has a market cap of $53.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.38, a PEG ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10. Paychex, Inc. has a 1 year low of $122.07 and a 1 year high of $161.24.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 25th. The business services provider reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.19. The business had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.38 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 29.75% and a return on equity of 45.01%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.12 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 21st will be paid a $1.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 21st. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.92%. Paychex’s payout ratio is 94.53%.

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.