Bourne Lent Asset Management Inc. Has $8.59 Million Stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Bourne Lent Asset Management Inc. cut its holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 5.3% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 55,659 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 3,140 shares during the period. Paychex comprises approximately 3.7% of Bourne Lent Asset Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding. Bourne Lent Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $8,587,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Joule Financial LLC bought a new stake in Paychex in the first quarter worth $216,000. Sara Bay Financial lifted its stake in Paychex by 1.5% in the first quarter. Sara Bay Financial now owns 6,505 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $982,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Paychex by 85.0% in the first quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 10,210 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,575,000 after purchasing an additional 4,691 shares during the last quarter. Permanent Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Paychex in the first quarter worth $212,000. Finally, MRA Advisory Group lifted its stake in Paychex by 11.5% in the first quarter. MRA Advisory Group now owns 2,041 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $315,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Paychex from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, March 31st. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Paychex from $145.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Paychex from $148.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $142.55.

Paychex Price Performance

PAYX stock opened at $159.78 on Friday. Paychex, Inc. has a 1 year low of $115.40 and a 1 year high of $161.24. The company has a market cap of $57.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.64, a PEG ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.92. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $150.26 and a 200 day moving average of $147.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.39.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company 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 earnings per share. Paychex’s revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 29th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a $1.08 dividend. This is an increase from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. 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.