MBB Public Markets I LLC Buys New Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

MBB Public Markets I LLC purchased a new position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 21,565 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,557,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Paychex by 286.0% in the second quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 220 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC grew its holdings in Paychex by 227.6% in the 2nd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 249 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new position in shares of Paychex in the second quarter valued at about $30,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Paychex during the first quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, ESL Trust Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Paychex during the first quarter worth about $31,000. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Paychex

In related news, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 14,434 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.21, for a total transaction of $1,807,281.14. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 5,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $674,005.43. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Paychex news, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 14,434 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction on 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 approximately $674,005.43. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 9,615 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.60, for a total value of $1,207,644.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 5,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $676,104.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 147,163 shares of company stock valued at $17,537,817 in the last quarter. 11.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on PAYX. Bank of America upped their price target on Paychex from $111.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $122.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 27th. 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 report on Thursday, June 27th. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Paychex from $121.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $125.62.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PAYX opened at $132.99 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $128.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $124.24. Paychex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $106.27 and a fifty-two week high of $137.40. The company has a market capitalization of $47.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.48, a P/E/G ratio of 3.54 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.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 quarter last year, the company earned $0.97 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 8th were issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 8th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.95%. Paychex’s payout ratio is presently 83.94%.

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.