YHB Investment Advisors Inc. Sells 2,759 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

YHB Investment Advisors Inc. cut its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 6.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 37,013 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,759 shares during the quarter. YHB Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $4,388,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ethos Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Paychex by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC now owns 1,952 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $232,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI increased its holdings in shares of Paychex by 1.2% during the second quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI now owns 7,362 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $873,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Paychex by 3.8% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,543 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $312,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. Rockland Trust Co. increased its holdings in shares of Paychex by 1.1% during the first quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 9,074 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,114,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KCM Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Paychex by 3.2% in the first quarter. KCM Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,190 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $392,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of Paychex stock opened at $131.20 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $123.86 and a 200 day moving average of $122.86. Paychex, Inc. has a 12 month low of $106.27 and a 12 month high of $132.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.37.

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

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 8th were given a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.99%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 8th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 83.94%.

Insider Transactions 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 transaction of $11,901,732.30. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 437,345 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $51,287,448.15. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 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 value of $11,901,732.30. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 437,345 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $51,287,448.15. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 8,954 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.60, for a total value of $1,106,714.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 79,232 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,793,075.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 147,163 shares of company stock valued at $17,537,817. Corporate insiders own 11.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Bank of America upped their target price on Paychex from $111.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on Paychex from $126.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $130.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Barclays lowered their price objective on Paychex from $120.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Paychex from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $122.62.

About Paychex

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.