Independent Advisor Alliance Cuts Stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Independent Advisor Alliance cut its holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 1.4% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 8,620 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 126 shares during the quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance’s holdings in Paychex were worth $1,157,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Czech National Bank boosted its position in shares of Paychex by 8.3% during the second quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 61,049 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,238,000 after acquiring an additional 4,703 shares during the last quarter. BDF Gestion purchased a new stake in Paychex in the 2nd quarter worth $2,796,000. PGGM Investments boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 57.7% during the 2nd quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 21,703 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,573,000 after purchasing an additional 7,943 shares during the last quarter. DNB Asset Management AS grew its position in shares of Paychex by 6.6% during the second quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 64,580 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,657,000 after purchasing an additional 4,001 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates increased its holdings in shares of Paychex by 27.4% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 988,417 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $132,636,000 after purchasing an additional 212,700 shares during the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PAYX has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays increased their price target on Paychex from $118.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Paychex from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus increased 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. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $131.62.

Paychex Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ PAYX opened at $146.19 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $140.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $130.37. Paychex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $114.72 and a fifty-two week high of $150.71. 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 company has a market cap of $52.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.17, a PEG ratio of 3.97 and a beta of 0.99.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 1st. The business services provider reported $1.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.97% and a net margin of 31.98%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.14 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 7th will be paid a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.68%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 83.58%.

Insider Transactions at Paychex

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

Paychex Company 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.