Fenimore Asset Management Inc Sells 1,958 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Fenimore Asset Management Inc lowered its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 0.5% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 417,429 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,958 shares during the quarter. Paychex comprises 1.4% of Fenimore Asset Management Inc’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest holding. Fenimore Asset Management Inc’s holdings in Paychex were worth $64,401,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Capital Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Paychex by 5.4% during the 1st quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,647 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,797,000 after purchasing an additional 599 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its stake in Paychex by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 62,963 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $9,714,000 after purchasing an additional 354 shares in the last quarter. Charter Oak Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Paychex in the 1st quarter worth approximately $219,000. Wedmont Private Capital boosted its stake in Paychex by 25.0% in the 1st quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 3,959 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $581,000 after purchasing an additional 793 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clean Yield Group boosted its stake in Paychex by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. Clean Yield Group now owns 4,160 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $642,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Paychex

In other news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.25, for a total transaction of $544,762.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 78,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,709,408.75. This represents a 4.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 11.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on PAYX. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Cfra Research upgraded shares of Paychex to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Paychex from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $142.55.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PAYX opened at $159.78 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $57.55 billion, a PE ratio of 33.64, a PEG ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.92. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $150.26 and a 200 day moving average of $147.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.39. Paychex, Inc. has a one year low of $115.40 and a one year high of $161.24.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.01. Paychex had a net margin of 32.02% and a return on equity of 45.28%. The company had revenue of $1.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.51 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.38 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a dividend of $1.08 per share. This is a positive change from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.70%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 90.00%.

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.