Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Shares Sold by Nottingham Advisors Inc.

Nottingham Advisors Inc. reduced its position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 2.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,237 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 126 shares during the period. Nottingham Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $654,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of PAYX. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 26.3% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 5,710 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $801,000 after buying an additional 1,190 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in Paychex by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 110,853 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $15,544,000 after acquiring an additional 3,721 shares in the last quarter. Korea Investment CORP lifted its position in Paychex by 85.8% in the fourth quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 163,301 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $22,898,000 after acquiring an additional 75,417 shares during the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P lifted its position in Paychex by 59.8% in the fourth quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 967 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $136,000 after acquiring an additional 362 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Paychex in the fourth quarter valued at $78,215,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of Paychex stock opened at $147.99 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10. The firm has a market cap of $53.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.88. Paychex, Inc. has a 52-week low of $122.07 and a 52-week high of $161.24. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $150.40 and its 200-day simple moving average is $148.57.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.38 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.01% and a net margin of 29.75%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.12 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 21st will be issued a $1.08 dividend. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 21st. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 94.53%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on PAYX. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on Paychex in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $160.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $165.00 price objective on Paychex and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Barclays set a $155.00 price objective on Paychex and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Paychex from $140.00 to $148.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Paychex from $150.00 to $148.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $150.20.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paychex

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

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.