Paychex, Inc. (PAYX) Shares Sold by Covington Capital Management

Covington Capital Management cut its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 3.8% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 114,451 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 4,582 shares during the period. Covington Capital Management’s holdings in Paychex were worth $6,741,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bruderman Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Paychex by 0.3% in the first quarter. Bruderman Asset Management LLC now owns 6,794 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $400,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Northwest Quadrant Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Paychex by 0.6% in the first quarter. Northwest Quadrant Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,923 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $228,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the period. King Wealth Management Group LLC increased its stake in Paychex by 0.8% in the first quarter. King Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 3,793 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $223,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the period. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC increased its stake in Paychex by 1.0% in the first quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC now owns 4,199 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $248,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the period. Finally, Howe & Rusling Inc. increased its stake in Paychex by 0.6% in the first quarter. Howe & Rusling Inc. now owns 8,530 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $502,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the period. 68.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ PAYX) opened at 57.20 on Friday. Paychex, Inc. has a one year low of $52.78 and a one year high of $63.03. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $58.50 and a 200-day moving average of $59.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.42 and a beta of 0.96.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 28th. The business services provider reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.01. Paychex had a return on equity of 42.65% and a net margin of 25.93%. The firm had revenue of $799 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $797.70 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.49 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post $2.37 earnings per share for the current year.

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 24th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 1st will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a boost from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.50%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 28th.

Several research firms have commented on PAYX. Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (The) downgraded shares of Paychex from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $68.00 to $64.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 20th. J P Morgan Chase & Co reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $60.00 price objective (down from $62.00) on shares of Paychex in a report on Friday, June 30th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Paychex from $56.00 to $55.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 30th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of Paychex from $63.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Paychex from $61.00 to $60.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 30th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. The company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $59.16.

In other news, VP Jennifer R. Vossler sold 10,000 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.76, for a total transaction of $587,600.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 33,483 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,967,461.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 35,000 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.01, for a total value of $2,100,350.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 47,007 shares in the company, valued at $2,820,890.07. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 148,151 shares of company stock worth $8,604,108. Insiders own 11.60% of the company’s stock.

About Paychex

Paychex, Inc is a provider of integrated human capital management (HCM) solutions for payroll, human resource (HR), retirement and insurance services for small- to medium-sized businesses in the United States. The Company also has operations in Germany. The Company offers services, including Payroll processing, Human Resource Services, and Accounting and Financial Services.

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