Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Shares Purchased by EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC

EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 4.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,203 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 137 shares during the quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $381,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of PAYX. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Paychex by 0.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,541,306 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,750,472,000 after acquiring an additional 123,268 shares during the period. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in Paychex by 12.8% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 20,878,283 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,563,853,000 after acquiring an additional 2,373,894 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Paychex by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,687,859 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $320,151,000 after buying an additional 56,793 shares in the last quarter. FIL Ltd increased its position in shares of Paychex by 32.4% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 2,548,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $303,492,000 after buying an additional 623,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors increased its position in shares of Paychex by 155.6% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,478,325 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $304,338,000 after buying an additional 1,508,681 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Paychex Trading Up 0.6 %

PAYX traded up $0.79 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $127.28. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,415,604 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,943,847. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The firm has a market cap of $45.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.25, a PEG ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 1.00. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $122.07 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $122.08. Paychex, Inc. has a 52-week low of $106.27 and a 52-week high of $129.92.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 26th. The business services provider reported $1.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.29 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 46.63% and a net margin of 32.03%. The company’s revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.97 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 8th will be paid a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.08%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 8th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 83.94%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 8,954 shares of the business’s 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,793,075.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 9,615 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.60, for a total transaction of $1,207,644.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $676,104.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 8,954 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.60, for a total value of $1,106,714.40. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 79,232 shares in the company, valued at $9,793,075.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 152,438 shares of company stock valued at $18,185,292 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 11.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PAYX has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America raised their price target on Paychex from $111.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Barclays dropped their price target on Paychex from $120.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 1st. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $130.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Paychex from $126.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Paychex from $125.00 to $122.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $122.46.

Paychex Profile

Paychex, Inc provides integrated human capital management solutions for human resources (HR), payroll, benefits, 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.