Leisure Capital Management Has $1.19 Million Stock Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Leisure Capital Management grew its holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 2.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 8,892 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 236 shares during the quarter. Leisure Capital Management’s holdings in Paychex were worth $1,193,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in PAYX. Czech National Bank increased its position in Paychex by 8.3% in the second quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 61,049 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,238,000 after purchasing an additional 4,703 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in Paychex by 85.1% in the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,259,393 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $154,263,000 after purchasing an additional 579,136 shares during the period. Nomura Holdings Inc. acquired a new stake in Paychex in the fourth quarter worth about $774,000. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC increased its position in Paychex by 4.9% in the first quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 10,250 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,259,000 after purchasing an additional 477 shares during the period. Finally, Sei Investments Co. increased its position in Paychex by 5.8% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 110,113 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $13,522,000 after purchasing an additional 6,033 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Paychex Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PAYX traded down $0.58 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $141.72. 185,870 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,805,424. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.47, a P/E/G ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 1.38. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $132.28 and its 200 day moving average price is $125.78. Paychex, Inc. has a 12 month low of $106.27 and a 12 month high of $144.17.

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

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 7th will be issued a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.77%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 7th. Paychex’s payout ratio is presently 83.94%.

Insider Activity at Paychex

In other Paychex news, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 8,954 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 79,232 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,793,075.20. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Paychex news, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 8,954 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 79,232 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,793,075.20. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 14,434 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.21, for a total value of $1,807,281.14. Following the transaction, the director now owns 5,383 shares in the company, valued at $674,005.43. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 74,162 shares of company stock worth $9,846,185 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 11.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Paychex from $111.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Paychex from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Paychex from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Paychex from $125.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Paychex from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Two 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, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $130.77.

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.