Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Shares Sold by Confluence Wealth Services Inc.

Confluence Wealth Services Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 63.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,267 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 5,688 shares during the period. Confluence Wealth Services Inc.'s holdings in Paychex were worth $468,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of PAYX. Tsfg LLC lifted its holdings in Paychex by 122.3% during the first quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 229 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. Vista Investment Partners II LLC boosted its stake in Paychex by 1.5% during the first quarter. Vista Investment Partners II LLC now owns 17,643 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $2,722,000 after buying an additional 257 shares during the last quarter. BSW Wealth Partners boosted its stake in Paychex by 10.6% during the first quarter. BSW Wealth Partners now owns 2,163 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $334,000 after buying an additional 207 shares during the last quarter. 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Paychex in the first quarter valued at $708,000. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 13.5% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 394,107 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $59,522,000 after acquiring an additional 46,944 shares during the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of PAYX stock traded up $2.59 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $148.05. The company had a trading volume of 1,640,808 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,940,075. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.28. Paychex, Inc. has a 12-month low of $115.40 and a 12-month high of $161.24. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $151.83 and a 200-day moving average of $147.89. The company has a market capitalization of $53.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.40, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.92.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, June 25th. The business services provider reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.19. Paychex had a net margin of 29.75% and a return on equity of 45.01%. The firm had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.38 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.12 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a dividend of $1.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This is a positive change from Paychex's previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.92%. Paychex's dividend payout ratio is 90.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.25, for a total value of $544,762.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 78,455 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,709,408.75. This trade represents a 4.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 11.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PAYX has been the subject of several research reports. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Paychex from $156.00 to $152.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Citigroup set a $158.00 price target on shares of Paychex and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $140.00 price target on Paychex and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Paychex from $140.00 to $148.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, Barclays set a $155.00 price target on shares of Paychex and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have assigned a hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $149.11.

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.