DAVENPORT & Co LLC Sells 2,614 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

DAVENPORT & Co LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 7.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 33,443 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 2,614 shares during the quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC's holdings in Paychex were worth $5,160,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of PAYX. Golden State Equity Partners lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 0.9% during the first quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 7,623 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,176,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Paychex by 2.4% during the first quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,192 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $492,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC boosted its stake in Paychex by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC now owns 3,179 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $446,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators boosted its stake in Paychex by 7.6% in the first quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 1,148 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $177,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GeoWealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Paychex by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 4,120 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $578,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on PAYX. Cfra Research upgraded Paychex to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $140.00 price target on Paychex and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Paychex from $156.00 to $152.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Barclays set a $155.00 price objective on shares of Paychex and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Paychex from $150.00 to $148.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have assigned a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $149.11.

Insider Activity at Paychex

In related news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.25, for a total transaction of $544,762.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 78,455 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,709,408.75. This trade represents a 4.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 11.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Paychex Trading Up 0.7%

Paychex stock opened at $147.02 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $152.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $147.91. The company has a market capitalization of $52.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.88. Paychex, Inc. has a 52 week low of $115.40 and a 52 week high of $161.24. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 25th. The business services provider reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.19. The business had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.38 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 29.75% and a return on equity of 45.01%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.12 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a $1.08 dividend. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This is a boost from Paychex's previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Paychex's payout ratio is 90.00%.

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.

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