Northwest Investment Counselors LLC Acquires 274 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Northwest Investment Counselors LLC grew its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 26,683 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 274 shares during the period. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $3,581,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Paychex by 286.0% during the second quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 220 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC grew its stake in Paychex by 227.6% during the 2nd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 249 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. ESL Trust Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Paychex in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Paychex in the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, American National Bank boosted its position in Paychex by 166.7% in the 2nd quarter. American National Bank now owns 288 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 180 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on PAYX. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of Paychex from $126.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Paychex from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Paychex has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $130.77.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of Paychex stock traded down $0.54 during trading on Monday, reaching $140.99. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 356,888 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,798,354. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $133.36 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $126.22. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. Paychex, Inc. has a one year low of $106.27 and a one year high of $144.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $50.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 1.00.

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

Paychex Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 7th will be given a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 7th. Paychex’s payout ratio is 83.94%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 8,954 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.60, for a total transaction of $1,106,714.40. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 79,232 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,793,075.20. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 8,954 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.60, for a total value of $1,106,714.40. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 79,232 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,793,075.20. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 17,362 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,471,480.70. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 87,177 shares of company stock worth $11,698,870 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 11.50% 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.