Mission Wealth Management LP Reduces Stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Mission Wealth Management LP lowered its holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 3.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,567 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 120 shares during the quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP’s holdings in Paychex were worth $438,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 4.1% in the 1st quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 5,019 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $616,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares during the period. Norden Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Paychex in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $231,000. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 6.1% in the 1st quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 74,909 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $9,199,000 after purchasing an additional 4,320 shares during the period. HB Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 7.4% in the 1st quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,507 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $676,000 after purchasing an additional 379 shares during the period. Finally, Arkadios Wealth Advisors lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 34,077 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,185,000 after purchasing an additional 866 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 19,709 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction on Friday, May 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.55, for a total value of $2,454,755.95. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 5,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $670,452.65. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 19,709 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction on Friday, May 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.55, for a total transaction of $2,454,755.95. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,383 shares in the company, valued at $670,452.65. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 101,490 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.27, for a total value of $11,901,732.30. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 437,345 shares in the company, valued at $51,287,448.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 11.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $115.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Evercore ISI restated an “in-line” rating and issued a $118.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Paychex from $111.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on Paychex from $122.00 to $121.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Paychex from $126.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $122.46.

Paychex Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of Paychex stock traded up $0.11 on Friday, reaching $117.54. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,585,817 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,130,275. The company has a market capitalization of $42.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.17, a P/E/G ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.00. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $121.99 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $121.64. Paychex, Inc. has a 52 week low of $106.27 and a 52 week high of $129.70. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 26th. The business services provider reported $1.12 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.02. Paychex had a return on equity of 46.63% and a net margin of 32.03%. The company had revenue of $1.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.29 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.97 earnings per share. Paychex’s revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities 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 30th. Investors of record on Friday, May 10th were issued a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.34%. This is a positive change from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. Paychex’s payout ratio is presently 83.94%.

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.