Miramar Capital LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Miramar Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 51.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 67,746 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 23,138 shares during the quarter. Paychex comprises about 2.0% of Miramar Capital LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 29th biggest holding. Miramar Capital LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $8,032,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Czech National Bank increased its position in Paychex by 8.3% during the second quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 61,049 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,238,000 after buying an additional 4,703 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at $1,400,000. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in Paychex by 85.1% in the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,259,393 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $154,263,000 after purchasing an additional 579,136 shares during the last quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. acquired a new stake in Paychex during the 4th quarter worth $23,330,000. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia grew its position in Paychex by 13.9% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 82,955 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $9,880,000 after purchasing an additional 10,143 shares during the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $122.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Robert W. Baird reduced 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Paychex from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Barclays cut their price target on Paychex from $120.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 1st. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price target on Paychex from $121.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $123.00.

Paychex Price Performance

Paychex stock opened at $132.50 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $47.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 1.00. Paychex, Inc. has a one year low of $106.27 and a one year high of $137.40. The business has a fifty day moving average of $127.41 and a two-hundred day moving average of $123.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 1.37.

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

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 8th were paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 8th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 83.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 101,490 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $51,287,448.15. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related 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 value 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 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 transaction of $1,807,281.14. Following the transaction, the director now owns 5,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $674,005.43. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 147,163 shares of company stock worth $17,537,817 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 11.50% of the company’s stock.

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.