Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Trims Stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC reduced its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 18.1% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 558,829 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 123,303 shares during the period. Paychex makes up 1.2% of Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s holdings, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $66,255,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Phoenix Wealth Advisors increased its position in Paychex by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Phoenix Wealth Advisors now owns 3,819 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $453,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Paychex by 10.0% during the 2nd quarter. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,063 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $241,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares during the period. PGGM Investments increased its position in Paychex by 57.7% during the 2nd quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 21,703 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,573,000 after purchasing an additional 7,943 shares during the period. ORG Partners LLC increased its position in Paychex by 227.6% during the 2nd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 249 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the period. Finally, IVC Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Paychex by 5.5% during the 2nd quarter. IVC Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 13,927 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,651,000 after purchasing an additional 727 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Paychex Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ PAYX traded up $0.72 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $125.82. 1,219,582 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,851,249. Paychex, Inc. has a 52-week low of $106.27 and a 52-week high of $129.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.29 billion, a PE ratio of 26.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.29 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. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $122.69 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $122.27.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 26th. The business services provider reported $1.12 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.29 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 46.63% and a net margin of 32.03%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.97 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 8th will be paid a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 8th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.12%. Paychex’s payout ratio is currently 83.94%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on PAYX shares. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Paychex from $125.00 to $122.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $130.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Paychex from $126.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Paychex from $120.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 1st. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on Paychex from $111.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $122.46.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paychex

In other Paychex news, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 101,490 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.27, for a total value of $11,901,732.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 437,345 shares in the company, valued at $51,287,448.15. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 101,490 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.27, for a total transaction of $11,901,732.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 437,345 shares in the company, valued at $51,287,448.15. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 9,615 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now owns 5,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $676,104.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 166,872 shares of company stock worth $19,992,573 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 11.50% of the company’s stock.

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.