D.A. Davidson & CO. Has $3.98 Million Stock Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

D.A. Davidson & CO. lowered its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 12.8% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 29,691 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 4,339 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $3,984,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Paychex by 286.0% in the 2nd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 220 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Paychex by 227.6% in the 2nd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 249 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its position in shares of Paychex by 42.0% in the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 250 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in Paychex during the 3rd quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, American National Bank increased its holdings in Paychex by 166.7% during the 2nd quarter. American National Bank now owns 288 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $145.71 on Friday. Paychex, Inc. has a 52-week low of $114.72 and a 52-week high of $150.71. The company has a market capitalization of $52.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $141.12 and a 200 day simple moving average of $130.59. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 1st. The business services provider reported $1.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 31.98% and a return on equity of 45.97%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.14 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 7th were given a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.69%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 83.58%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Paychex news, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $1,852,685.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 17,362 shares in the company, valued at $2,471,480.70. This trade represents a 42.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 14,731 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The shares were 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 approximately $2,020,197.70. The trade was a 50.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 54,174 shares of company stock worth $7,577,231 over the last three months. Insiders own 11.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on PAYX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. TD Cowen increased their target price on Paychex from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Paychex from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. UBS Group raised their price objective on Paychex from $125.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $131.62.

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.