Bessemer Group Inc. Reduces Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Bessemer Group Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 47.7% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 24,928 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 22,710 shares during the quarter. Bessemer Group Inc.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $3,846,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Paychex by 220.7% during the 4th quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 186 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the period. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at $41,000. Finally, Campbell Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at $42,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on PAYX. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Paychex from $155.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group set a $140.00 price target on shares of Paychex and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $165.00 price target on shares of Paychex and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Cfra Research raised shares of Paychex to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Paychex from $150.00 to $148.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $149.11.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paychex

In other news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.25, for a total transaction of $544,762.50. Following the sale, the director now owns 78,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,709,408.75. This represents a 4.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 11.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Paychex Trading Up 2.1%

Shares of PAYX opened at $143.94 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $151.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $147.76. Paychex, Inc. has a 12-month low of $115.40 and a 12-month high of $161.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.92.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, June 25th. The business services provider reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19. Paychex had a net margin of 29.75% and a return on equity of 45.01%. The company had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.38 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.12 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were given a $1.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.00%. This is a boost from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 90.00%.

About Paychex

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.