Salomon & Ludwin LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Salomon & Ludwin LLC trimmed its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 29.1% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,096 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 449 shares during the period. Salomon & Ludwin LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $135,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in PAYX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 38.7% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 990,021 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $114,179,000 after buying an additional 276,446 shares in the last quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 8.5% during the 3rd quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 178,033 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $20,533,000 after buying an additional 13,907 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 274,135 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $31,619,000 after buying an additional 9,976 shares in the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 51,699 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,962,000 after buying an additional 3,567 shares in the last quarter. Finally, WealthPlan Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Paychex during the 3rd quarter valued at $235,000. 83.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Paychex Price Performance

PAYX stock traded up $0.85 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $117.02. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,777,964 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,842,106. Paychex, Inc. has a 12 month low of $106.27 and a 12 month high of $129.70. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $42.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a 50 day moving average of $121.89 and a two-hundred day moving average of $121.53.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 26th. The business services provider reported $1.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $1.29 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.97 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 10th were paid a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.35%. This is an increase from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 9th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 83.94%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 101,490 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 437,345 shares in the company, valued at approximately $51,287,448.15. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Paychex news, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 19,709 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.55, for a total value of $2,454,755.95. Following the sale, the director now owns 5,383 shares in the company, valued at $670,452.65. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 101,490 shares of the 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 owns 437,345 shares in the company, 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 corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on PAYX shares. 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 dropped their price target on shares of Paychex from $126.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $130.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Barclays dropped their price target 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, Evercore ISI reiterated an “in-line” rating and issued a $118.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $122.46.

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.