Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Shares Sold by Argyle Capital Management Inc.

Argyle Capital Management Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 8.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 32,625 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,930 shares during the period. Paychex makes up 1.7% of Argyle Capital Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 13th largest position. Argyle Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $4,378,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Czech National Bank increased its holdings 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 valued at $7,238,000 after acquiring an additional 4,703 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 579,136 shares during the last quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 4.9% during the first quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 10,250 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,259,000 after buying an additional 477 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in shares of Paychex by 5.8% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 110,113 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $13,522,000 after buying an additional 6,033 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BDF Gestion acquired a new position in shares of Paychex in the 2nd quarter valued at $2,796,000. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on PAYX. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Paychex from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Paychex from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Paychex currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $130.77.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paychex

In related news, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 14,731 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.18, for a total value of $2,050,260.58. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,515 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,020,197.70. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 14,434 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.21, for a total value of $1,807,281.14. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $674,005.43. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 14,731 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.18, for a total transaction of $2,050,260.58. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,020,197.70. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 68,608 shares of company stock valued at $9,384,512 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 11.40% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of Paychex stock traded up $0.28 on Tuesday, hitting $140.55. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 227,100 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,780,197. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 1.38. Paychex, Inc. has a 1 year low of $106.27 and a 1 year high of $144.17. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $135.28 and a 200-day moving average price of $126.95. The company has a market capitalization of $50.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.86 and a beta of 1.00.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 1st. The business services provider reported $1.16 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.31 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.97% and a net margin of 31.98%. The business’s revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.14 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 7th will be given a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.79%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 83.58%.

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.