Anchor Investment Management LLC Has $1.81 Million Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Anchor Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 3.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,494 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 461 shares during the quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $1,811,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Raymond James & Associates lifted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 27.4% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 988,417 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $132,636,000 after purchasing an additional 212,700 shares in the last quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD increased its holdings in Paychex by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 1,567,667 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $210,282,000 after buying an additional 68,627 shares during the period. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 7.2% during the 2nd quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 1,703,913 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $202,016,000 after buying an additional 114,132 shares in the last quarter. MBB Public Markets I LLC bought a new stake in shares of Paychex during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $2,557,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in Paychex by 169.9% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 7,624 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,023,000 after purchasing an additional 4,799 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of PAYX opened at $141.19 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $50.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.88 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $142.62 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $131.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 1.38. Paychex, Inc. has a 1 year low of $114.72 and a 1 year high of $150.71.

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

Paychex Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 7th were given a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 7th. Paychex’s payout ratio is currently 83.58%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paychex

In related news, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 26,428 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.03, for a total transaction of $3,674,284.84. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,018,020.45. This trade represents a 64.55 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.35, for a total transaction of $1,852,685.25. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 17,362 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,471,480.70. The trade was a 42.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 54,174 shares of company stock worth $7,577,231. Company insiders own 11.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group raised their price objective on Paychex from $125.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Paychex from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Paychex from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.