Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Holdings Boosted by Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC

Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 51.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,561 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,205 shares during the period. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $422,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. ORG Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Paychex by 227.6% during the 2nd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 249 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. ESL Trust Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Paychex during the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Paychex during the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. American National Bank grew its holdings in shares of Paychex by 166.7% during the 2nd quarter. American National Bank now owns 288 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clear Investment Research LLC grew its holdings in shares of Paychex by 55.8% during the 4th quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 307 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on PAYX shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Paychex from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $122.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $130.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of Paychex from $126.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Paychex from $111.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Paychex currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $122.62.

Insider Transactions at Paychex

In other news, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 8,954 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.60, for a total transaction of $1,106,714.40. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 79,232 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,793,075.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 8,954 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.60, for a total value of $1,106,714.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 79,232 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,793,075.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 9,615 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.60, for a total transaction of $1,207,644.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $676,104.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 147,163 shares of company stock valued at $17,537,817 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 11.50% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Trading Up 1.6 %

PAYX traded up $2.11 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $130.00. The stock had a trading volume of 2,120,698 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,837,320. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $123.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $122.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.37. Paychex, Inc. has a 1-year low of $106.27 and a 1-year high of $130.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 1.00.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 26th. The business services provider reported $1.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.02. Paychex had a net margin of 32.03% and a return on equity of 46.63%. The company had revenue of $1.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.29 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.97 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 8th will be given a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 8th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is 83.94%.

About Paychex

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.