LPL Financial LLC Sells 34,795 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

LPL Financial LLC lessened its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 5.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 582,812 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 34,795 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC owned approximately 0.16% of Paychex worth $69,098,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of PAYX. Capital International Investors grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 12.8% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 20,878,283 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,563,853,000 after buying an additional 2,373,894 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted 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 worth $304,338,000 after purchasing an additional 1,508,681 shares during the period. Confluence Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Paychex during the first quarter worth $146,617,000. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in Paychex by 57.2% in the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 2,179,930 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $267,695,000 after buying an additional 793,468 shares during the period. Finally, FIL Ltd lifted its holdings in Paychex by 32.4% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 2,548,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $303,492,000 after buying an additional 623,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of Paychex stock opened at $135.09 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $126.36 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $123.41. Paychex, Inc. has a 12-month low of $106.27 and a 12-month high of $136.40. The company has a quick ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The firm has a market cap of $48.60 billion, a PE ratio of 28.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 1.00.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, June 26th. The business services provider reported $1.12 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.02. Paychex had a net margin of 32.03% and a return on equity of 46.63%. The firm had revenue of $1.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.29 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.97 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 8th were given a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 8th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.90%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 83.94%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on PAYX. Bank of America boosted 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. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of Paychex from $126.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective 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. Barclays dropped 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 note on Monday, July 1st. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Paychex from $121.00 to $126.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $123.00.

Insider Activity at Paychex

In related news, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 101,490 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.27, for a total transaction of $11,901,732.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 437,345 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $51,287,448.15. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Paychex news, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 101,490 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.27, for a total transaction 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 14,434 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.21, for a total transaction of $1,807,281.14. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 5,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $674,005.43. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 147,163 shares of company stock valued at $17,537,817 in the last three months. Company insiders own 11.50% of the company’s stock.

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.