Courier Capital LLC Has $3.20 Million Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Courier Capital LLC lowered its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 0.8% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 26,092 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 200 shares during the period. Courier Capital LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $3,204,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Capital International Investors increased its stake in Paychex by 9.0% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 18,504,389 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,204,115,000 after acquiring an additional 1,523,520 shares during the period. Confluence Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Paychex in the first quarter valued at about $146,617,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in Paychex by 229.8% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,630,944 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $188,655,000 after acquiring an additional 1,136,456 shares during the period. Capital World Investors bought a new stake in Paychex in the fourth quarter valued at about $115,494,000. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc increased its stake in Paychex by 123.5% in the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,386,462 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $165,141,000 after acquiring an additional 766,252 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 19,709 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.55, for a total transaction of $2,454,755.95. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $670,452.65. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 11.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Paychex Trading Up 0.6 %

NASDAQ PAYX traded up $0.72 on Friday, hitting $118.56. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 6,554,513 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,854,744. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. Paychex, Inc. has a 1-year low of $106.27 and a 1-year high of $129.70. The company’s 50-day moving average is $122.40 and its 200 day moving average is $122.06. The firm has a market cap of $42.68 billion, a PE ratio of 25.23, a PEG ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.96.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 32.03% and a return on equity of 46.63%. The company had revenue of $1.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.29 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.97 earnings per share. Paychex’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 30th. Investors of record on Friday, May 10th were paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 9th. This is a positive change from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.31%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 83.94%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on PAYX shares. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of Paychex from $126.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of Paychex from $122.00 to $121.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $130.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research note on Thursday. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Paychex from $111.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “in-line” rating and set a $118.00 price objective 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 given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $122.62.

Paychex Company 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.