Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY Has $7.09 Million Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY cut its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 1.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 63,413 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 879 shares during the period. Paychex accounts for about 1.1% of Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest position. Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY’s holdings in Paychex were worth $7,094,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in Paychex by 27.4% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 11,757,155 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,347,252,000 after buying an additional 2,528,158 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Paychex by 0.8% in the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,982,029 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $913,599,000 after acquiring an additional 62,739 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Paychex by 10.8% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,673,275 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $771,164,000 after acquiring an additional 651,753 shares during the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Paychex by 102,768.9% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,537,548 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $524,359,000 after acquiring an additional 4,533,137 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Paychex by 56.8% in the first quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,380,489 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $501,960,000 after acquiring an additional 1,587,495 shares during the last quarter. 72.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Paychex news, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 45,810 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.96, for a total transaction of $5,724,417.60. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 19,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,474,208. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 45,810 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.96, for a total value of $5,724,417.60. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 19,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,474,208. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph M. Tucci sold 12,156 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.02, for a total transaction of $1,373,871.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 53,460 shares in the company, valued at $6,042,049.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 221,916 shares of company stock valued at $26,789,753. 11.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on PAYX. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Paychex from $115.00 to $116.00 in a research note on Friday, June 30th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Paychex from $109.00 to $106.00 in a research note on Sunday, July 2nd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Paychex from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 13th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Paychex from $123.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 17th. Finally, VNET Group reissued a “maintains” rating on shares of Paychex in a research note on Friday, June 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Paychex has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $123.12.

Paychex Stock Up 0.3 %

Paychex stock opened at $116.31 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.99 billion, a PE ratio of 27.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.98. Paychex, Inc. has a twelve month low of $104.09 and a twelve month high of $129.70. The company has a quick ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The company has a 50 day moving average of $122.26 and a 200-day moving average of $114.19.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, June 29th. The business services provider reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.97. Paychex had a net margin of 31.10% and a return on equity of 46.79%. The business had revenue of $1.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.22 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.81 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 10th were given a dividend of $0.89 per share. This represents a $3.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 9th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 82.79%.

About Paychex

Paychex, Inc provides integrated human capital management solutions for human resources (HR), payroll, benefits, 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.