Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Stock Position Lowered by Kesler Norman & Wride LLC

Kesler Norman & Wride LLC lessened its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 8.5% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 15,247 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,409 shares during the period. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $1,872,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Fortis Group Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Paychex in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Clear Investment Research LLC lifted its position in Paychex by 55.8% in the 4th quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 307 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Paychex in the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. Tidemark LLC purchased a new stake in Paychex in the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. Finally, Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Paychex in the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on PAYX shares. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $130.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target 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. Robert W. Baird dropped 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. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Paychex from $111.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, Barclays dropped 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Paychex has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $122.46.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paychex

In other Paychex news, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 19,709 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.55, for a total value of $2,454,755.95. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 5,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $670,452.65. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 101,490 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.27, for a total transaction of $11,901,732.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 437,345 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $51,287,448.15. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 19,709 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.55, for a total transaction of $2,454,755.95. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $670,452.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 11.50% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PAYX traded down $0.95 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $117.43. The stock had a trading volume of 1,072,413 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,193,838. Paychex, Inc. has a 1-year low of $106.27 and a 1-year high of $129.70. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $122.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $121.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.15, a PEG ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 1.00.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, June 26th. The business services provider reported $1.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.02. Paychex had a net margin of 32.03% and a return on equity of 46.63%. The business had revenue of $1.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.29 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.97 EPS. Paychex’s revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 10th were issued a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 9th. This is an increase from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.34%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is 83.94%.

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.