70,106 Shares in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Bought by First Long Island Investors LLC

First Long Island Investors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 70,106 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $9,408,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of PAYX. Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 286.0% in the second quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 220 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 163 shares during the period. ORG Partners LLC raised its position in Paychex by 227.6% in the second quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 249 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new position in Paychex in the second quarter worth about $30,000. ESL Trust Services LLC acquired a new position in Paychex in the first quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, American National Bank raised its position in Paychex by 166.7% in the second quarter. American National Bank now owns 288 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PAYX has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Paychex from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Paychex from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Paychex from $118.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Paychex from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Paychex has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $130.77.

Paychex Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PAYX traded down $2.27 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $143.57. 304,234 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,785,497. Paychex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $114.72 and a fifty-two week high of $150.71. 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 stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $139.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $128.96. The firm has a market cap of $51.67 billion, a PE ratio of 30.88, a P/E/G ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 0.99.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 1st. The business services provider reported $1.16 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 last year, the business posted $1.14 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 of this dividend is Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.73%. Paychex’s payout ratio is currently 83.58%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paychex

In other Paychex news, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of the business’s 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 26,428 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.03, for a total transaction of $3,674,284.84. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,018,020.45. This represents a 64.55 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 54,174 shares of company stock worth $7,577,231. Insiders own 11.40% of the company’s stock.

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.