Atria Investments Inc Sells 2,834 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Atria Investments Inc cut its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 5.0% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 53,904 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,834 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc’s holdings in Paychex were worth $6,619,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Outlook Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Paychex in the fourth quarter valued at $214,000. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its position in Paychex by 80.2% in the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 343,269 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $40,887,000 after buying an additional 152,818 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Paychex by 366.5% in the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 20,863 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,485,000 after buying an additional 16,391 shares in the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in Paychex during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,400,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in shares of Paychex by 85.1% during the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,259,393 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $154,263,000 after acquiring an additional 579,136 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Paychex

In other Paychex news, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 8,954 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 79,232 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,793,075.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related 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 transaction of $2,454,755.95. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 5,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $670,452.65. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 8,954 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.60, for a total value of $1,106,714.40. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 79,232 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,793,075.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 152,438 shares of company stock valued at $18,185,292 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 11.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on PAYX. Bank of America increased 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. Barclays decreased their price objective on Paychex from $120.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 1st. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $130.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on Paychex from $126.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Paychex from $125.00 to $122.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $122.46.

Paychex Stock Up 0.6 %

Paychex stock traded up $0.79 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $127.28. 2,415,604 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,943,847. Paychex, Inc. has a one year low of $106.27 and a one year high of $129.92. The company has a market cap of $45.84 billion, a PE ratio of 27.25, a PEG ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 1.00. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $122.07 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $122.08. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

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

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 28th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 8th will be given a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 8th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.08%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 83.94%.

About Paychex

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.