Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY Reduces Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY cut its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 1.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 543,413 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 8,319 shares during the quarter. Paychex makes up approximately 2.7% of Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY owned approximately 0.15% of Paychex worth $83,838,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in Paychex by 26.3% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 5,710 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $801,000 after buying an additional 1,190 shares in the last quarter. SVB Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Paychex during the fourth quarter worth $914,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 53.4% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,919 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $269,000 after purchasing an additional 668 shares during the last quarter. Norden Group LLC increased its holdings in Paychex by 38.8% in the fourth quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 3,089 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $433,000 after purchasing an additional 864 shares during the period. Finally, SRS Capital Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Paychex by 331.6% in the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 1,187 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $166,000 after buying an additional 912 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on PAYX shares. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $165.00 price objective on Paychex and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Barclays set a $155.00 price target on shares of Paychex and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Paychex from $140.00 to $148.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Paychex from $155.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $140.00 price objective on shares of Paychex and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have issued a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $149.11.

Paychex Trading Down 1.4%

NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $145.38 on Wednesday. Paychex, Inc. has a 12 month low of $115.40 and a 12 month high of $161.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $151.91 and its 200 day moving average is $147.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.37 billion, a PE ratio of 31.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.88.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 25th. The business services provider reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.19. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.01% and a net margin of 29.75%. The company had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.38 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.12 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were given a dividend of $1.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.97%. This is a boost from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 90.00%.

Insider Transactions at Paychex

In other 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 transaction of $544,762.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 78,455 shares of the company’s stock, 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 11.40% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.