Sabal Trust CO Sells 5,101 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Sabal Trust CO reduced its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 2.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 224,685 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 5,101 shares during the quarter. Paychex comprises approximately 1.9% of Sabal Trust CO’s holdings, making the stock its 11th largest position. Sabal Trust CO owned about 0.06% of Paychex worth $34,664,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of PAYX. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its holdings in shares of Paychex by 118.5% in the first quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 136,876 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $21,117,000 after purchasing an additional 74,245 shares during the last quarter. Terra Nova Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Paychex by 4.2% during the first quarter. Terra Nova Asset Management LLC now owns 3,770 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $582,000 after buying an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. Alpine Bank Wealth Management purchased a new position in Paychex during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $34,000. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC increased its stake in Paychex by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 9,323 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,438,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Paychex by 161.1% in the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,094 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $169,000 after acquiring an additional 675 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Stock Performance

Paychex stock opened at $137.94 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $49.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.92. Paychex, Inc. has a 1-year low of $115.40 and a 1-year high of $161.24. The company’s 50-day moving average is $151.83 and its 200 day moving average is $147.75.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 25th. The business services provider reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.19. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.30% and a net margin of 31.99%. The firm had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.38 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.12 earnings per share. Research 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 represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.13%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This is an increase from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 90.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $165.00 price objective on shares of Paychex and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. UBS Group boosted 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. Cfra Research upgraded shares of Paychex to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Paychex in a research report on Tuesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $143.36.

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 stock was sold at an average price of $149.25, for a total transaction of $544,762.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 78,455 shares in the company, valued at $11,709,408.75. This trade represents a 4.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 11.40% of the stock is currently 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.