Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI Reduces Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI trimmed its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 24.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,790 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 5,679 shares during the period. Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI's holdings in Paychex were worth $2,745,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Paychex by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,521,025 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $4,419,878,000 after buying an additional 174,817 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its stake in shares of Paychex by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 26,905,031 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $3,772,544,000 after buying an additional 166,155 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,044,631 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,408,458,000 after buying an additional 519,761 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,541,034 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,339,463,000 after buying an additional 126,962 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings 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 worth $674,115,000 after acquiring an additional 694,651 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions 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 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 11.40% of the company's stock.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of PAYX traded down $0.27 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $153.22. 2,525,398 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,901,693. The stock has a market cap of $55.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.92. Paychex, Inc. has a 1-year low of $115.40 and a 1-year high of $161.24. The company has a 50 day moving average of $151.13 and a 200-day moving average of $147.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.39.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.28% and a net margin of 32.02%. The firm had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.51 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.38 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were given a $1.08 dividend. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.82%. This is a boost from Paychex's previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. Paychex's dividend payout ratio is 90.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on PAYX shares. Cfra Research raised Paychex to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Paychex from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $148.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of Paychex from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $142.55.

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.