ST Germain D J Co. Inc. Buys 400 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

ST Germain D J Co. Inc. grew its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 72.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 949 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 400 shares during the quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $127,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Paychex by 286.0% during the 2nd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 220 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Paychex by 227.6% during 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 during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new stake in Paychex during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Paychex during the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, ESL Trust Services LLC acquired a new position in Paychex in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $31,000. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Paychex news, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 8,954 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 79,232 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,793,075.20. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 17,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,471,480.70. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 8,954 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 79,232 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,793,075.20. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 87,177 shares of company stock worth $11,698,870 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 11.50% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on PAYX. TD Cowen lifted their price target 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 upped their price target on Paychex from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Paychex from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $130.77.

Paychex Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ PAYX opened at $141.53 on Friday. Paychex, Inc. has a 12-month low of $106.27 and a 12-month high of $144.17. 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 firm has a market cap of $50.95 billion, a PE ratio of 30.31, a P/E/G ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 1.00. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $133.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $126.18.

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

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 2.77%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 7th. Paychex’s payout ratio is 83.94%.

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.