Sunpointe LLC Sells 193 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Sunpointe LLC lowered its position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 4.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,802 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 193 shares during the quarter. Sunpointe LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $587,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of PAYX. Summit Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Paychex by 2.4% during the first quarter. Summit Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,027 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $467,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Equity Partners boosted its position in shares of Paychex by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 7,623 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,176,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,192 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $492,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Asset Dedication LLC increased its position in Paychex by 12.1% during the 1st quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 711 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $110,000 after buying an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators increased its position in Paychex by 7.6% during the 1st quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 1,148 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $177,000 after buying an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paychex

In related news, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 97,526 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the chairman owned 446,917 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,878,940.89. This represents a 17.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,370 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 16th. The stock was 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 directly owned 81,755 shares in the company, valued at $11,602,669.60. The trade was a 13.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 11.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Paychex from $140.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $165.00 price target on Paychex and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Paychex from $155.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Citigroup set a $158.00 price objective on shares of Paychex and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $140.00 target price on shares of Paychex and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $150.20.

Paychex Stock Performance

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

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

Paychex Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 of this dividend is Monday, July 21st. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.92%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.