Financial Counselors Inc. Increases Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Financial Counselors Inc. raised its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 7.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 38,676 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,839 shares during the quarter. Financial Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $5,190,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Fiduciary Trust Co raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Fiduciary Trust Co now owns 9,024 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,211,000 after buying an additional 142 shares during the period. FORA Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Paychex by 243.5% during the third quarter. FORA Capital LLC now owns 18,292 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,455,000 after purchasing an additional 12,967 shares during the period. True Vision MN LLC lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 19.4% during the third quarter. True Vision MN LLC now owns 3,123 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $419,000 after purchasing an additional 507 shares in the last quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 81.2% in the third quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 11,656 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,564,000 after purchasing an additional 5,222 shares during the period. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund grew its holdings in Paychex by 129.6% during the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 328,386 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $44,066,000 after purchasing an additional 185,339 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on PAYX shares. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Barclays increased their price target on Paychex from $118.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Paychex from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $131.62.

Insider Transactions at Paychex

In other news, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 26,428 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.03, for a total value of $3,674,284.84. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,515 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,018,020.45. The trade was a 64.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of the 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 17,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,471,480.70. The trade was a 42.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 54,174 shares of company stock worth $7,577,231. 11.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Paychex Price Performance

PAYX opened at $145.71 on Friday. Paychex, Inc. has a 12-month low of $114.72 and a 12-month high of $150.71. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.07, a PEG ratio of 4.00 and a beta of 0.99. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $141.12 and a 200-day moving average of $130.59.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 1st. The business services provider reported $1.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by $0.02. Paychex had a net margin of 31.98% and a return on equity of 45.97%. The company had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.14 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 7th were given a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.69%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 83.58%.

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.