Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY Sells 2,189 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY cut its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 56,947 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,189 shares during the quarter. Paychex makes up 1.0% of Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest position. Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY’s holdings in Paychex were worth $7,642,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Paychex by 286.0% during the 2nd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 220 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC lifted its position in Paychex by 227.6% during the 2nd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 249 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new stake in Paychex during the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Paychex during the 1st quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, ESL Trust Services LLC bought a new stake in Paychex during the 1st quarter worth about $31,000. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on PAYX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Paychex from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Paychex from $126.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Paychex from $111.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and twelve have given a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $130.77.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of PAYX traded down $0.71 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $138.65. 1,776,714 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,834,330. Paychex, Inc. has a 52 week low of $106.27 and a 52 week high of $142.04. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $130.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $124.83. The firm has a market cap of $49.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 1st. The business services provider reported $1.16 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.02. Paychex had a net margin of 32.03% and a return on equity of 46.63%. The company had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.31 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.14 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 8th were issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 8th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.83%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 83.94%.

Insider Transactions at Paychex

In other news, CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,670 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.53, for a total transaction of $1,514,445.10. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 55,745 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,663,199.85. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 8,954 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.60, for a total value of $1,106,714.40. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 79,232 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,793,075.20. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,670 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.53, for a total transaction of $1,514,445.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 55,745 shares in the company, valued at $6,663,199.85. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 45,673 shares of company stock valued at $5,636,085. 11.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Paychex 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.