Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Stock Position Trimmed by Bank & Trust Co

Bank & Trust Co trimmed its holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 2.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 5,963 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 166 shares during the quarter. Bank & Trust Co’s holdings in Paychex were worth $836,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Paychex by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 49,505 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,869,000 after buying an additional 335 shares in the last quarter. Candriam S.C.A. raised its position in shares of Paychex by 6.8% during the second quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 29,896 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,544,000 after purchasing an additional 1,916 shares during the period. Savant Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 3.4% during the second quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 7,739 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $918,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares during the last quarter. Norden Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Paychex by 13.7% in the 2nd quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 2,136 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $253,000 after purchasing an additional 258 shares during the period. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new position in Paychex in the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Paychex

In related news, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 26,428 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,515 shares in the company, valued at $2,018,020.45. The trade was a 64.55 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was 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 owns 17,362 shares in the company, valued at $2,471,480.70. The trade was a 42.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 11.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of PAYX traded up $2.63 on Tuesday, hitting $138.69. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 754,604 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,544,805. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $142.40 and a 200 day moving average price of $134.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 1.38. The company has a market capitalization of $49.94 billion, a PE ratio of 29.57, a PEG ratio of 3.88 and a beta of 1.00. Paychex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $114.72 and a fifty-two week high of $150.71.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.02. Paychex had a net margin of 31.98% and a return on equity of 45.97%. The business had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.08 earnings per share. Paychex’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 7th were given a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.83%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 82.53%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on PAYX. Citigroup raised their target price on Paychex from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Paychex from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $148.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $132.23.

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.