Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY Sells 17,432 Shares of Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY cut its position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 38.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 27,539 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 17,432 shares during the quarter. Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY’s holdings in Paychex were worth $2,537,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PAYX. Cidel Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Paychex during the 1st quarter valued at $202,000. Riverbridge Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Paychex by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Riverbridge Partners LLC now owns 15,276 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,407,000 after acquiring an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc. increased its stake in shares of Paychex by 9.5% in the 1st quarter. Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc. now owns 4,003 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $369,000 after acquiring an additional 348 shares in the last quarter. Krilogy Financial LLC purchased a new position in Paychex during the 1st quarter valued at about $686,000. Finally, Prentice Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Paychex by 65.6% during the 1st quarter. Prentice Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,226 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $297,000 after acquiring an additional 1,278 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Paychex to $52.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 26th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Paychex from $98.00 to $94.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating on shares of Paychex in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Paychex from $116.00 to $95.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Paychex from $125.00 to $100.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $105.07.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of PAYX stock opened at $97.99 on Wednesday. Paychex, Inc. has a one year low of $85.45 and a one year high of $152.57. The company’s 50-day moving average is $95.13 and its 200 day moving average is $99.36. The company has a market capitalization of $35.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.58 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.26.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 25th. The business services provider reported $1.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.78 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 25.84% and a return on equity of 48.52%. Paychex’s revenue was up 19.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.49 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 5.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 13th were issued a dividend of $1.19 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 13th. This is a positive change from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.08. This represents a $4.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.9%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 104.85%.

Paychex Profile

Paychex, Inc, founded in 1971 by B. Thomas “Tom” Golisano and headquartered in Rochester, New York, is a provider of payroll, human resources, and benefits outsourcing solutions for small- and medium-sized businesses. The company’s core services include payroll processing and tax filing, employee benefits administration, retirement services, and workers’ compensation administration, designed to simplify back-office operations and help clients comply with regulatory and tax requirements.

Paychex offers an integrated technology platform, marketed under the Paychex Flex brand, which delivers cloud-based payroll, HR, time and attendance, and reporting tools.