FineMark National Bank & Trust Acquires 598 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

FineMark National Bank & Trust grew its holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 9.5% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 6,900 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 598 shares during the quarter. FineMark National Bank & Trust’s holdings in Paychex were worth $818,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of PAYX. ORG Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Paychex by 227.6% in the second quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 249 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 173 shares during the period. Chilton Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Paychex in the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. ESL Trust Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Paychex in the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. American National Bank boosted its position in shares of Paychex by 166.7% in the second quarter. American National Bank now owns 288 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the period. Finally, Clear Investment Research LLC boosted its position in shares of Paychex by 55.8% in the fourth quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 307 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $130.07 on Friday. Paychex, Inc. has a twelve month low of $106.27 and a twelve month high of $133.12. The firm has a market cap of $46.84 billion, a PE ratio of 27.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 1.37. The business has a fifty day moving average of $124.53 and a 200-day moving average of $123.03.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, June 26th. The business services provider reported $1.12 earnings per share 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 company 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 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 8th were paid a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 8th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.01%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 83.94%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Paychex from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Bank of America raised their target price on Paychex from $111.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Paychex from $125.00 to $122.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on Paychex from $126.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on Paychex from $120.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Paychex presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $122.62.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 101,490 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.27, for a total value of $11,901,732.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 437,345 shares in the company, valued at $51,287,448.15. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 101,490 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.27, for a total value of $11,901,732.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 437,345 shares in the company, valued at $51,287,448.15. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 14,434 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.21, for a total value of $1,807,281.14. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 5,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $674,005.43. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 147,163 shares of company stock worth $17,537,817. 11.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Paychex Profile

Paychex, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides integrated human capital management solutions (HCM) for payroll, benefits, human resources (HR), 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.