Wambolt & Associates LLC Has $472,000 Stock Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Wambolt & Associates LLC reduced its position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 34.9% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,879 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,078 shares during the quarter. Wambolt & Associates LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $472,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Outlook Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Paychex in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $214,000. Cerity Partners LLC grew its position in Paychex by 80.2% in the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 343,269 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $40,887,000 after purchasing an additional 152,818 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Paychex by 366.5% during the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 20,863 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,485,000 after purchasing an additional 16,391 shares during the period. BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Paychex during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,229,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 218.8% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 680,257 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $80,794,000 after buying an additional 466,890 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Paychex

In other Paychex news, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 19,709 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 owns 5,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $670,452.65. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 19,709 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 101,490 shares of Paychex 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 sale, 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. 11.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Paychex Price Performance

PAYX traded up $0.11 during trading on Friday, hitting $117.54. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,585,817 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,130,275. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.00. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $121.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $121.64. Paychex, Inc. has a 12 month low of $106.27 and a 12 month high of $129.70.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its quarterly 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 return on equity of 46.63% and a net margin of 32.03%. The business had revenue of $1.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.29 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.97 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast 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 30th. Stockholders 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. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 9th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is 83.94%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Bank of America upped their price target on Paychex from $111.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Evercore ISI reiterated an “in-line” rating and set a $118.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of Paychex from $122.00 to $121.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Paychex from $120.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 1st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $130.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Paychex presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $122.46.

About Paychex

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.