Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY Decreases Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY decreased its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 1.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 55,460 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 908 shares during the period. Paychex makes up 1.1% of Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest position. Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY’s holdings in Paychex were worth $8,556,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of 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 period. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new position in Paychex in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Paychex in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new position in Paychex in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Avion Wealth boosted its holdings in Paychex by 469.8% in the fourth quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 245 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ PAYX opened at $157.66 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $149.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $146.59. Paychex, Inc. has a 52-week low of $115.40 and a 52-week high of $159.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $56.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.19, a PEG ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.01. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.28% and a net margin of 32.02%. The firm had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.51 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.38 earnings per share. Paychex’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were given a dividend of $1.08 per share. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.74%. This is a boost from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 90.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on PAYX. Citigroup increased their price target on Paychex from $145.00 to $158.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. UBS Group increased their price target on Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Barclays increased their price target on Paychex from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, March 31st. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Paychex in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $141.00.

Insider Transactions at Paychex

In other news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.25, for a total transaction of $544,762.50. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 78,455 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,709,408.75. This represents a 4.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 11.40% of the company’s stock.

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.