NBC Securities Inc. Lowers Stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

NBC Securities Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 1.6% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 28,016 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 458 shares during the period. NBC Securities Inc.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $3,441,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fortis Group Advisors LLC bought a new position in Paychex during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Clear Investment Research LLC grew its position in Paychex by 55.8% during the 4th quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 307 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Tidemark LLC purchased a new stake in Paychex during the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Paychex in the fourth quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Paychex in the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI restated an “in-line” rating and issued a $118.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. TD Cowen decreased their price target on Paychex from $122.00 to $121.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $115.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Bank of America boosted their target price on Paychex from $108.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $130.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a report on Tuesday, May 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $123.00.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of Paychex stock traded up $0.75 on Wednesday, hitting $125.46. 1,181,740 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,716,642. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.16 billion, a PE ratio of 27.33, a PEG ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 0.96. Paychex, Inc. has a 1 year low of $106.27 and a 1 year high of $129.70. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $122.19 and a 200-day simple moving average of $122.04.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 2nd. The business services provider reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.01. Paychex had a return on equity of 46.14% and a net margin of 31.86%. The business had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.46 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.29 earnings per share. Paychex’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.71 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 10th were paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. This is a boost from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.12%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 85.40%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paychex

In other 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 $670,452.65. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 11.50% of the company’s stock.

Paychex 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.