Aviance Capital Partners LLC Acquires New Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Aviance Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 6,928 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $851,000.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its holdings in Paychex by 5.5% in the third quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 72,812 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $8,397,000 after purchasing an additional 3,803 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 101,678 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $11,727,000 after buying an additional 764 shares during the last quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Paychex in the 3rd quarter valued at about $833,000. United Services Automobile Association bought a new stake in shares of Paychex during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,265,000. Finally, Insigneo Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in Paychex during the third quarter worth about $326,000. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Trading Down 1.3 %

Paychex stock opened at $117.00 on Tuesday. Paychex, Inc. has a 12-month low of $106.27 and a 12-month high of $129.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.12 billion, a PE ratio of 25.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 1.00. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $122.38 and a 200-day simple moving average of $121.90.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 26th. The business services provider reported $1.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.29 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.97 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 10th were given a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 9th. This is a boost from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.35%. Paychex’s payout ratio is 83.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paychex

In other news, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 19,709 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 accessible through the SEC website. 11.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PAYX has been the subject of a number of research reports. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on Paychex from $126.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and set a $115.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Evercore ISI reiterated an “in-line” rating and issued a $118.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Paychex from $120.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $130.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $122.46.

About Paychex

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.