Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Sells 86,749 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC decreased its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 19.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 369,134 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 86,749 shares during the period. Paychex accounts for approximately 1.1% of Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s holdings, making the stock its 8th largest position. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $56,950,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Monument Capital Management grew its holdings in Paychex by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Monument Capital Management now owns 1,714 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $240,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the period. Emerald Advisors LLC raised its position in Paychex by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Emerald Advisors LLC now owns 3,017 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $423,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. MWA Asset Management raised its position in Paychex by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. MWA Asset Management now owns 4,007 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $562,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC raised its position in Paychex by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC now owns 3,179 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $446,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GeoWealth Management LLC raised its position in Paychex by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 4,120 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $578,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Trading Up 0.3%

NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $159.78 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.39. The firm has a market cap of $57.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.92. Paychex, Inc. has a 52 week low of $115.40 and a 52 week high of $161.24. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $150.26 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $147.16.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.01. Paychex had a net margin of 32.02% and a return on equity of 45.28%. The firm had revenue of $1.51 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.51 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.38 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 29th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a $1.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This is an increase from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.70%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 90.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on PAYX. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Paychex from $148.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target 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. Cfra Research raised shares of Paychex to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Paychex in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Paychex presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $142.55.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Paychex news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.25, for a total value of $544,762.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 78,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,709,408.75. This trade represents a 4.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 11.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.