Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Shares Sold by Anchor Investment Management LLC

Anchor Investment Management LLC lowered its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 6.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 13,033 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 867 shares during the period. Anchor Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $1,545,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Paychex by 0.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,541,306 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,750,472,000 after acquiring an additional 123,268 shares during the period. Capital International Investors raised its position in shares of Paychex by 12.8% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 20,878,283 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,563,853,000 after acquiring an additional 2,373,894 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Paychex by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,687,859 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $320,151,000 after acquiring an additional 56,793 shares during the period. FIL Ltd raised its position in shares of Paychex by 32.4% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 2,548,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $303,492,000 after acquiring an additional 623,000 shares during the period. Finally, Capital World Investors raised its position in shares of Paychex by 155.6% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,478,325 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $304,338,000 after acquiring an additional 1,508,681 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ PAYX opened at $139.36 on Friday. Paychex, Inc. has a 12-month low of $106.27 and a 12-month high of $142.04. The stock has a market cap of $50.13 billion, a PE ratio of 29.84, a P/E/G ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The company has a 50-day moving average of $130.19 and a 200 day moving average of $124.70.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 1st. The business services provider reported $1.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.02. Paychex had a net margin of 32.03% and a return on equity of 46.63%. The company had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.31 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.14 EPS. Paychex’s revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

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 $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 8th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.81%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 83.94%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 8,954 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.60, for a total value of $1,106,714.40. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 79,232 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,793,075.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 9,615 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.60, for a total value of $1,207,644.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,383 shares in the company, valued at approximately $676,104.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 8,954 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.60, for a total transaction of $1,106,714.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 79,232 shares in the company, valued at $9,793,075.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 45,673 shares of company stock valued at $5,636,085 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 11.50% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on PAYX. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of Paychex from $126.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Paychex from $111.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and twelve have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Paychex currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $130.77.

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.