Miramar Capital LLC Decreases Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Miramar Capital LLC decreased its holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 0.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 67,213 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 533 shares during the period. Paychex makes up about 2.1% of Miramar Capital LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Miramar Capital LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $9,019,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 5.8% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 110,113 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $13,522,000 after purchasing an additional 6,033 shares during the period. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC grew its holdings in Paychex by 4.0% in the first quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 5,623 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $691,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the period. Nwam LLC grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Nwam LLC now owns 3,528 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $430,000 after buying an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Spirepoint Private Client LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Paychex in the first quarter worth $579,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Paychex by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,541,306 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,750,472,000 after purchasing an additional 123,268 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on PAYX shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Paychex from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Paychex from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Barclays raised their target price on Paychex from $118.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Paychex from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Paychex presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $130.77.

Paychex Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of PAYX opened at $142.96 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $51.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 1.38. Paychex, Inc. has a 1 year low of $114.72 and a 1 year high of $150.71. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $139.30 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $129.12.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 1st. The business services provider reported $1.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.31 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 31.98% and a return on equity of 45.97%. Paychex’s quarterly revenue was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.14 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 7th will be issued a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.74%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 83.58%.

Insider Activity at Paychex

In related news, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.35, for a total value of $1,852,685.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 17,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,471,480.70. This trade represents a 42.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 14,731 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.18, for a total value of $2,050,260.58. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,515 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,020,197.70. This represents a 50.37 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 54,174 shares of company stock valued at $7,577,231. Insiders own 11.40% 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.