Gallacher Capital Management LLC Has $253,000 Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Gallacher Capital Management LLC cut its holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 69.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,639 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 3,766 shares during the period. Gallacher Capital Management LLC's holdings in Paychex were worth $253,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Paychex by 220.7% in the 4th quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 186 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex during the first quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Alpine Bank Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Paychex in the first quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Tsfg LLC increased its stake in shares of Paychex by 122.3% in the first quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 229 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 126 shares during the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on PAYX shares. Jefferies Financial Group set a $140.00 price objective on shares of Paychex and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report 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 research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Cfra Research raised shares of Paychex to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $140.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $165.00 price objective on shares of Paychex and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Paychex currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $150.20.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of Paychex stock traded up $1.26 during trading on Thursday, reaching $146.50. The company's stock had a trading volume of 845,022 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,147,793. The business's 50-day moving average price is $150.72 and its 200-day moving average price is $148.33. The firm has a market cap of $52.78 billion, a PE ratio of 32.07, a P/E/G ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.88. Paychex, Inc. has a 52 week low of $122.07 and a 52 week high of $161.24. The company has a quick ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, June 25th. The business services provider reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.19. The firm 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 quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.12 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 21st will be paid a dividend of $1.08 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 21st. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.95%. Paychex's payout ratio is presently 94.53%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 97,526 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.17, for a total value of $14,157,849.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman owned 446,917 shares of the company's stock, valued at $64,878,940.89. This represents a 17.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,370 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.92, for a total value of $1,755,550.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 81,755 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,602,669.60. This represents a 13.14% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 11.40% of the company's stock.

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.