Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Shares Purchased by Miracle Mile Advisors LLC

Miracle Mile Advisors LLC grew its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 2.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,633 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 119 shares during the quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $692,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of PAYX. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its holdings in Paychex by 0.8% in the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 101,678 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $11,727,000 after buying an additional 764 shares during the last quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Paychex during the third quarter worth about $326,000. Truist Financial Corp increased its position in Paychex by 38.5% in the 3rd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 240,449 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $27,731,000 after acquiring an additional 66,802 shares during the period. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Paychex by 86.2% during the 3rd quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 27,791 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,205,000 after acquiring an additional 12,864 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 229.8% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,630,944 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $188,655,000 after purchasing an additional 1,136,456 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PAYX traded down $1.56 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $117.00. 1,723,685 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,853,714. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.37. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $122.38 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $121.90. Paychex, Inc. has a 52 week low of $106.27 and a 52 week high of $129.70. The company has a market cap of $42.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 1.00.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 26th. The business services provider reported $1.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.02. Paychex had a return on equity of 46.63% and a net margin of 32.03%. The firm had revenue of $1.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.29 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.97 EPS. Paychex’s revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 10th were paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 9th. This is an increase from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.35%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 83.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paychex

In related news, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 19,709 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction on Friday, May 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.55, for a total value of $2,454,755.95. Following the transaction, the director now owns 5,383 shares in the company, valued at approximately $670,452.65. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 11.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “in-line” rating and set a $118.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Bank of America upped their target price on Paychex from $111.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Paychex from $120.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and set a $115.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Paychex from $126.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven 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 $122.46.

Paychex Company Profile

Paychex, Inc provides integrated human capital management solutions for human resources (HR), payroll, benefits, 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.