Catalina Capital Group LLC Has $224,000 Stock Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Catalina Capital Group LLC reduced its position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 38.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,455 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 910 shares during the period. Catalina Capital Group LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $224,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of PAYX. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Paychex during the 4th quarter worth $184,216,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 20,236.7% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,153,089 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $177,899,000 after buying an additional 1,147,419 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 16.9% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,807,554 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $674,115,000 after buying an additional 694,651 shares during the period. Amundi boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 77.9% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,534,145 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $215,164,000 after buying an additional 672,010 shares during the period. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 86.5% during the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 1,355,713 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $189,746,000 after buying an additional 628,912 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective 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. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Cfra Research raised shares of Paychex to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Paychex from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, March 31st. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Paychex from $145.00 to $158.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $143.36.

Paychex Price Performance

NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $150.32 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $151.68 and a 200-day moving average of $147.60. The company has a market capitalization of $54.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.32, a PEG ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 0.92. Paychex, Inc. has a 52 week low of $115.40 and a 52 week high of $161.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.39.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.51 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.51 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 31.99% and a return on equity of 45.30%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.38 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a dividend of $1.08 per share. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.87%. This is an increase from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 90.00%.

Insider Transactions at Paychex

In related news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of the 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 sale, the director now owns 78,455 shares in the company, valued at $11,709,408.75. This trade represents a 4.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 11.40% of the stock is 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.