Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Shares Sold by TrinityPoint Wealth LLC

TrinityPoint Wealth LLC trimmed its holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 10.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,539 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 515 shares during the quarter. TrinityPoint Wealth LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $609,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PAYX. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Paychex by 1.0% during the third quarter. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC now owns 207,223 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $27,807,000 after purchasing an additional 1,964 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank boosted its position in shares of Paychex by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 962,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $129,091,000 after purchasing an additional 2,800 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its position in shares of Paychex by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 30,548 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,099,000 after purchasing an additional 285 shares during the period. Adero Partners LLC grew its stake in Paychex by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Adero Partners LLC now owns 2,316 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $311,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Paychex during the third quarter worth approximately $465,000. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on PAYX. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Paychex from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Paychex from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price target on Paychex from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $130.77.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 26,428 shares of Paychex 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 owns 14,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,018,020.45. The trade was a 64.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.35, for a total transaction of $1,852,685.25. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 17,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,471,480.70. This represents a 42.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 54,174 shares of company stock worth $7,577,231 over the last three months. 11.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Paychex Price Performance

Paychex stock opened at $141.76 on Tuesday. 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’s 50-day simple moving average is $139.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $129.42. Paychex, Inc. has a 52 week low of $114.72 and a 52 week high of $150.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.02 billion, a PE ratio of 30.23, a P/E/G ratio of 3.93 and a beta of 0.99.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its quarterly 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 net margin of 31.98% and a return on equity of 45.97%. The business had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.14 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict 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 will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 7th will be issued a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.77%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.