Raymond James Trust N.A. Sells 2,077 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Raymond James Trust N.A. reduced its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 3.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 59,832 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,077 shares during the period. Raymond James Trust N.A.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $7,094,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of PAYX. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 123,268 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its stake in Paychex by 12.8% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 20,878,283 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,563,853,000 after purchasing an additional 2,373,894 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 2.2% in 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 buying an additional 56,793 shares during the last quarter. FIL Ltd lifted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 623,000 shares during the period. Finally, Capital World Investors grew its holdings in shares of Paychex by 155.6% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,478,325 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $304,338,000 after buying an additional 1,508,681 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Paychex from $125.00 to $122.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Paychex from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Paychex from $111.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Paychex from $120.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $122.62.

Paychex Price Performance

Paychex stock traded up $2.11 during trading on Friday, reaching $130.00. The company had a trading volume of 2,120,698 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,837,320. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.80 billion, a PE ratio of 27.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 1.00. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $123.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $122.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 1.37. Paychex, Inc. has a 1-year low of $106.27 and a 1-year high of $130.15.

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

Paychex Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 8th will be paid a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.02%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 8th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 83.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 9,615 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.60, for a total value of $1,207,644.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $676,104.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Paychex news, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 101,490 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.27, for a total value of $11,901,732.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 437,345 shares in the company, valued at approximately $51,287,448.15. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 9,615 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.60, for a total transaction of $1,207,644.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,383 shares in the company, valued at approximately $676,104.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 147,163 shares of company stock worth $17,537,817. 11.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Paychex Company Profile

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.