Van ECK Associates Corp Increases Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 6.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 74,909 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,320 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Paychex were worth $9,199,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Truist Financial Corp lifted its holdings in Paychex by 38.5% during the third quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 240,449 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $27,731,000 after buying an additional 66,802 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in Paychex by 229.8% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,630,944 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $188,655,000 after buying an additional 1,136,456 shares during the period. Alps Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 24.0% during the 3rd quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 35,147 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,054,000 after purchasing an additional 6,810 shares during the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. lifted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 67.4% during the 3rd quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 309,046 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $35,642,000 after purchasing an additional 124,400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lido Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 1,435.0% during the 3rd quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 49,843 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,748,000 after purchasing an additional 46,596 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PAYX has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $115.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Paychex from $126.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Paychex from $111.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Paychex from $120.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Paychex from $125.00 to $122.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Two 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, Paychex currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $122.46.

Insider Transactions at Paychex

In other news, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 101,490 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.27, for a total transaction of $11,901,732.30. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 437,345 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $51,287,448.15. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 19,709 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 5,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $670,452.65. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 101,490 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.27, for a total transaction of $11,901,732.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 437,345 shares in the company, valued at $51,287,448.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 11.50% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Stock Performance

PAYX traded down $0.30 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $117.13. 875,376 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,838,744. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $122.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $121.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. Paychex, Inc. has a 1-year low of $106.27 and a 1-year high of $129.70.

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

Paychex Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. This is a positive change from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.35%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 9th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 83.94%.

Paychex 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.