Confluence Wealth Services Inc. Increases Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Confluence Wealth Services Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 23.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 11,758 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,271 shares during the period. Confluence Wealth Services Inc.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $1,394,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Ethos Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Paychex by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC now owns 1,952 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $232,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the period. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI boosted its holdings in Paychex by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI now owns 7,362 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $873,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Paychex by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,543 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $312,000 after buying an additional 92 shares during the period. Rockland Trust Co. boosted its holdings in Paychex by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 9,074 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,114,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the period. Finally, KCM Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Paychex by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. KCM Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,190 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $392,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PAYX has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Paychex from $126.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $122.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 27th. 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. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $130.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Paychex from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Paychex presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $122.62.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 101,490 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.27, for a total value of $11,901,732.30. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 437,345 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $51,287,448.15. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 8,954 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 79,232 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,793,075.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 101,490 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.27, for a total transaction of $11,901,732.30. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 437,345 shares in the company, valued at $51,287,448.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 147,163 shares of company stock valued at $17,537,817 in the last ninety days. 11.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Paychex Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PAYX traded up $1.65 during trading on Friday, reaching $131.20. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,798,939 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,831,250. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. Paychex, Inc. has a 12 month low of $106.27 and a 12 month high of $132.13. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $123.75 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $122.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.23 billion, a PE ratio of 28.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 1.00.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 26th. The business services provider reported $1.12 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.02. Paychex had a net margin of 32.03% and a return on equity of 46.63%. The firm had revenue of $1.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.29 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.97 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 8th were given a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 8th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 83.94%.

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.