Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. Trims Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. cut its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 31.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 81,828 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 38,314 shares during the quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc.'s holdings in Paychex were worth $12,624,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Paychex during the fourth quarter valued at $184,216,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Paychex by 20,236.7% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,153,089 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $177,899,000 after buying an additional 1,147,419 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Paychex by 16.9% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,807,554 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $674,115,000 after buying an additional 694,651 shares during the period. Amundi boosted its stake in Paychex by 77.9% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,534,145 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $215,164,000 after buying an additional 672,010 shares during the period. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group boosted its stake in Paychex by 86.5% during the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 1,355,713 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $189,746,000 after buying an additional 628,912 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of the business's 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 sale, the director now owns 78,455 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,709,408.75. The trade was a 4.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 11.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Paychex Trading Down 1.4%

NASDAQ PAYX opened at $150.32 on Friday. Paychex, Inc. has a 1-year low of $115.40 and a 1-year high of $161.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $151.80 and a 200-day moving average of $147.63. The firm has a market cap of $54.14 billion, a PE ratio of 31.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.92.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.01. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.30% and a net margin of 31.99%. The company had revenue of $1.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.51 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.38 EPS. Paychex's revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a $1.08 dividend. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.87%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This is a positive change from Paychex's previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Paychex's payout ratio is 90.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on PAYX. Cfra Research raised Paychex to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Paychex from $140.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Paychex from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $143.36.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.