UMB Bank n.a. Cuts Stock Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

UMB Bank n.a. lowered its holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 2.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 112,093 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 3,094 shares during the quarter. UMB Bank n.a.'s holdings in Paychex were worth $17,294,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of PAYX. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its position in Paychex by 120.0% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 6,936 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $973,000 after buying an additional 3,783 shares during the last quarter. Tallon Kerry Patrick purchased a new position in shares of Paychex during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,419,000. D Orazio & Associates Inc. lifted its position in Paychex by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc. now owns 2,654 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $372,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in 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 during the period. Finally, Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings 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 during the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions 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 sale, 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 is accessible through this link. Insiders own 11.40% of the company's stock.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of PAYX traded down $2.81 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $156.97. 1,487,212 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,907,437. The company has a market cap of $56.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The company's 50-day moving average price is $150.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $147.18. Paychex, Inc. has a 52-week low of $115.40 and a 52-week high of $161.24.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.51 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.28% and a net margin of 32.02%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.38 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were given a dividend of $1.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.75%. This is a boost from Paychex's previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Paychex's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 90.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PAYX has been the subject of a number of research reports. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Paychex in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Citigroup increased their target price on Paychex from $145.00 to $158.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Morgan Stanley upped 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. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Paychex from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, March 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus 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.