Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Cuts Stock Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lowered its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 4.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 61,393 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 3,020 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC's holdings in Paychex were worth $9,472,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Paychex in the 4th quarter worth about $184,216,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Paychex by 20,236.7% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,153,089 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $177,899,000 after purchasing an additional 1,147,419 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Paychex by 16.9% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,807,554 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $674,115,000 after purchasing an additional 694,651 shares in the last quarter. Amundi increased its stake in Paychex by 77.9% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,534,145 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $215,164,000 after purchasing an additional 672,010 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group raised its holdings in Paychex by 86.5% in the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 1,355,713 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $189,746,000 after buying an additional 628,912 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on PAYX. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Paychex from $155.00 to $145.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Barclays set a $155.00 target price on Paychex and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Paychex from $156.00 to $152.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Paychex from $150.00 to $148.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Finally, Cfra Research raised Paychex to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $143.55.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of the business's 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 now directly owns 78,455 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,709,408.75. The trade was a 4.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 11.40% of the company's stock.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of Paychex stock traded up $2.93 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $143.94. 3,849,840 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,953,728. Paychex, Inc. has a one year low of $115.40 and a one year high of $161.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $151.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $147.75.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, June 25th. The business services provider reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.38 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.12 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.00%. 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. Paychex's payout ratio is currently 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.