Patten & Patten Inc. TN Acquires 326 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Patten & Patten Inc. TN boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 8.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,166 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 326 shares during the quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN’s holdings in Paychex were worth $512,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital International Investors grew its position in shares of Paychex by 9.0% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 18,504,389 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,204,115,000 after purchasing an additional 1,523,520 shares in the last quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Paychex in the 1st quarter worth approximately $146,617,000. Capital World Investors purchased a new stake in shares of Paychex during the 4th quarter worth approximately $115,494,000. TD Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 57.2% during the 1st quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 2,179,930 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $267,695,000 after acquiring an additional 793,468 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FIL Ltd grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 623,000 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Paychex

In other news, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 19,709 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.55, for a total transaction of $2,454,755.95. Following the transaction, the director now owns 5,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $670,452.65. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 101,490 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 1st. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $51,287,448.15. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 19,709 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.55, for a total value of $2,454,755.95. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 5,383 shares in the company, valued at approximately $670,452.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 133,869 shares of company stock worth $15,870,933. Company insiders own 11.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of Paychex from $122.00 to $121.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $130.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Evercore ISI reissued an “in-line” rating and set a $118.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Paychex from $126.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Paychex from $125.00 to $122.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $122.46.

Paychex Trading Up 0.2 %

PAYX stock traded up $0.30 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $122.98. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,586,026 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,858,664. Paychex, Inc. has a 1 year low of $106.27 and a 1 year high of $129.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.20, a PEG ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 1.00. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $121.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $121.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.37.

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

Paychex Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 28th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.19%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 8th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 83.94%.

Paychex Company 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.