Mattern Capital Management LLC Sells 1,875 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Mattern Capital Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 2.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 63,036 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 1,875 shares during the quarter. Paychex accounts for about 1.2% of Mattern Capital Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Mattern Capital Management LLC's holdings in Paychex were worth $9,725,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its stake in Paychex by 120.0% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 6,936 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $973,000 after purchasing an additional 3,783 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in Paychex by 32.6% in the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 119,291 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $18,404,000 after purchasing an additional 29,320 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Paychex by 15.1% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,419 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $990,000 after purchasing an additional 843 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Paychex by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 581,529 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $81,542,000 after purchasing an additional 23,359 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in Paychex by 122.1% in the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 64,413 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $9,032,000 after purchasing an additional 35,407 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on PAYX. Barclays set a $155.00 price objective on Paychex and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Cfra Research raised Paychex to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Paychex from $140.00 to $148.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $165.00 target price on Paychex and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Paychex presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $143.36.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Paychex 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 transaction of $544,762.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 78,455 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,709,408.75. This trade represents a 4.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 11.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of PAYX stock opened at $152.25 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.39. The business has a fifty day moving average of $151.98 and a 200 day moving average of $147.82. Paychex, Inc. has a 1 year low of $115.40 and a 1 year high of $161.24.

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

Paychex Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 29th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a $1.08 dividend. This is a positive change from Paychex's previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.84%. Paychex's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding PAYX? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report).

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.