Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Shares Sold by Douglas Lane & Associates LLC

Douglas Lane & Associates LLC cut its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 10.9% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 2,653 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 324 shares during the period. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $315,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Paychex by 0.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,541,306 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,750,472,000 after purchasing an additional 123,268 shares during the period. Capital International Investors raised its stake in Paychex by 12.8% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 20,878,283 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,563,853,000 after purchasing an additional 2,373,894 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Paychex by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,687,859 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $320,151,000 after purchasing an additional 56,793 shares during the period. FIL Ltd raised its stake in Paychex by 32.4% during the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 2,548,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $303,492,000 after purchasing an additional 623,000 shares during the period. Finally, Capital World Investors raised its stake in Paychex by 155.6% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,478,325 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $304,338,000 after purchasing an additional 1,508,681 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Paychex news, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 14,434 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.21, for a total transaction of $1,807,281.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 5,383 shares in the company, valued at approximately $674,005.43. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Paychex news, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 14,434 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.21, for a total transaction of $1,807,281.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 5,383 shares in the company, valued at approximately $674,005.43. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 101,490 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.27, for a total transaction of $11,901,732.30. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 437,345 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $51,287,448.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 166,872 shares of company stock worth $19,992,573 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 11.50% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Stock Up 0.4 %

PAYX traded up $0.52 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $125.22. 1,547,155 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,864,017. Paychex, Inc. has a 12-month low of $106.27 and a 12-month high of $129.92. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $122.08 and a 200 day moving average of $122.14. The firm has a market cap of $45.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, June 26th. The business services provider reported $1.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.02. Paychex had a net margin of 32.03% and a return on equity of 46.63%. The firm had revenue of $1.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.29 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.97 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 28th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 8th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 83.94%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on PAYX shares. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $130.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $122.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Paychex from $111.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Paychex from $120.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 1st. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on shares of Paychex from $126.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Paychex has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $122.46.

Paychex Company Profile

Paychex, Inc provides integrated human capital management solutions for human resources (HR), payroll, benefits, 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.