Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 5.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 10,471 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 569 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $1,286,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 38.7% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 990,021 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $114,179,000 after buying an additional 276,446 shares in the last quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. boosted its stake in Paychex by 8.5% in the third quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 178,033 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $20,533,000 after acquiring an additional 13,907 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada grew its holdings in Paychex by 14.1% in the third quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 2,059,748 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $237,551,000 after purchasing an additional 255,165 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in shares of Paychex by 3.8% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 274,135 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $31,619,000 after purchasing an additional 9,976 shares in the last quarter. Finally, iA Global Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Paychex by 98.5% during the third quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 69,164 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,977,000 after purchasing an additional 34,319 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other 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 completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 437,345 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $51,287,448.15. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 101,490 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chairman now directly owns 437,345 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $51,287,448.15. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 19,709 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 5,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $670,452.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 11.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PAYX has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on Paychex from $126.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Paychex from $125.00 to $122.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Paychex from $111.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Evercore ISI reiterated an “in-line” rating and issued a $118.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and set a $115.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $122.46.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PAYX traded down $0.35 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $117.08. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 309,884 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,834,519. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.14 billion, a PE ratio of 25.15, a P/E/G ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.00. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $122.04 and a 200 day moving average of $121.72. Paychex, Inc. has a twelve month low of $106.27 and a twelve month high of $129.70. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 26th. The business services provider reported $1.12 earnings per share 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 return on equity of 46.63% and a net margin of 32.03%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.97 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 30th. Investors of record on Friday, May 10th were given a dividend of $0.98 per share. This is a boost from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.35%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 9th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 83.94%.

Paychex 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.