Trust Co. of Vermont Decreases Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Trust Co. of Vermont reduced its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 6.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 36,591 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 2,335 shares during the quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont's holdings in Paychex were worth $5,645,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 120.0% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 6,936 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $973,000 after purchasing an additional 3,783 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 32.6% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 119,291 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $18,404,000 after purchasing an additional 29,320 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 15.1% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,419 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $990,000 after purchasing an additional 843 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 581,529 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $81,542,000 after purchasing an additional 23,359 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 122.1% during the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 64,413 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $9,032,000 after purchasing an additional 35,407 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PAYX has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Cfra Research upgraded shares of Paychex to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Barclays set a $155.00 target price on shares of Paychex and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Paychex from $155.00 to $145.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Citigroup set a $158.00 target price on shares of Paychex and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an "equal weight" rating on shares of Paychex in a research note on Tuesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Paychex currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $143.00.

Paychex Trading Up 2.2%

NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $141.01 on Friday. Paychex, Inc. has a 12 month low of $115.40 and a 12 month high of $161.24. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $151.75 and a 200-day simple moving average of $147.75. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10. The company has a market capitalization of $50.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.86, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.92.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, June 25th. The business services provider reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.19. Paychex had a net margin of 29.75% and a return on equity of 45.01%. The firm had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.38 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.12 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a $1.08 dividend. This is a boost 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 3.06%. Paychex's payout ratio is presently 90.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paychex

In other Paychex news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.25, for a total value of $544,762.50. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 11.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Paychex

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.

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