Covington Capital Management decreased its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 3.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). 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 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bruderman Asset Management LLC raised its stake in 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 last quarter. Northwest Quadrant Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in 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 valued at $228,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. 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 last quarter. 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 last quarter. 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 last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.46% of the company’s stock.
Shares of Paychex, Inc. (PAYX) traded down 0.62% during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $56.47. The stock had a trading volume of 1,547,329 shares. The firm has a market cap of $20.30 billion, a PE ratio of 25.10 and a beta of 0.96. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $58.16 and a 200 day moving average of $59.28. Paychex, Inc. has a 12-month low of $52.78 and a 12-month high of $63.03.
Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 28th. The business services provider reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $799 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $797.70 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.49 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post $2.37 earnings per share for the current year.
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 24th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 1st will be given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 28th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.52%. This is an increase from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46.
Several brokerages recently weighed in on PAYX. Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (The) downgraded Paychex from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $68.00 to $64.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 20th. Wedbush reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $61.25 target price (down previously from $65.00) on shares of Paychex in a report on Tuesday, June 6th. BidaskClub upgraded Paychex from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday. BMO Capital Markets restated a “hold” rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research report on Thursday, June 29th. Finally, William Blair cut Paychex from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 21st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. Paychex presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $59.16.
In other Paychex news, insider Michael E. Gioja sold 7,343 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.40, for a total value of $421,488.20. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 55,632 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,193,276.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Martin Mucci sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.04, for a total value of $1,711,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 237,754 shares in the company, valued at $13,561,488.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 113,151 shares of company stock valued at $6,503,758. 11.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
Paychex Company Profile
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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