Chemung Canal Trust Co. Decreases Stock Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Chemung Canal Trust Co. cut its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 1.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,172 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 133 shares during the quarter. Chemung Canal Trust Co.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $881,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Outlook Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Paychex in the fourth quarter valued at $214,000. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 80.2% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 343,269 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $40,887,000 after purchasing an additional 152,818 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 366.5% in the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 20,863 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,485,000 after purchasing an additional 16,391 shares during the period. BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Paychex in the fourth quarter valued at $1,229,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 218.8% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 680,257 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $80,794,000 after purchasing an additional 466,890 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 19,709 shares of the 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 sale, the director now owns 5,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $670,452.65. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 11.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on PAYX. Evercore ISI reiterated an “in-line” rating and set a $118.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of Paychex from $126.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $130.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research note on Thursday. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of Paychex from $122.00 to $121.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Paychex from $111.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $122.62.

Paychex Trading Up 0.6 %

Paychex stock opened at $118.56 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $122.38 and its 200-day moving average is $121.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.37. Paychex, Inc. has a 1 year low of $106.27 and a 1 year high of $129.70. The company has a market cap of $42.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.39, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.96.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 32.03% and a return on equity of 46.63%. The business had revenue of $1.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.29 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.97 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect 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. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 9th. This is a boost from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.