Huntington National Bank Sells 1,069 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Huntington National Bank trimmed its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 9.4% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 10,249 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,069 shares during the quarter. Huntington National Bank’s holdings in Paychex were worth $1,375,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd raised its stake in Paychex by 18.8% in the third quarter. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd now owns 4,696 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $630,000 after purchasing an additional 742 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Paychex by 13.2% in the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,435 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $998,000 after buying an additional 867 shares in the last quarter. GHE LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. GHE LLC now owns 21,267 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,827,000 after acquiring an additional 203 shares during the period. MQS Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $598,000. Finally, Chase Investment Counsel Corp increased its stake in Paychex by 8.1% in the third quarter. Chase Investment Counsel Corp now owns 3,854 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $517,000 after acquiring an additional 288 shares during the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on PAYX. TD Cowen raised their target price on Paychex from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Paychex from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Paychex from $118.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $130.77.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $142.96 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $51.45 billion, a PE ratio of 30.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 0.99. Paychex, Inc. has a 52 week low of $114.72 and a 52 week high of $150.71. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $139.03 and its 200-day moving average is $128.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 1.38.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 1st. The business services provider reported $1.16 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.97% and a net margin of 31.98%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.14 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Shareholders 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 yield of 2.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 83.58%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 14,731 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.18, for a total transaction of $2,050,260.58. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 14,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,020,197.70. This trade represents a 50.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 17,362 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,471,480.70. This trade represents a 42.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 54,174 shares of company stock worth $7,577,231. 11.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.