Ellsworth Advisors LLC Has $4.89 Million Stock Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Ellsworth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 3.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 41,274 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,430 shares during the quarter. Paychex comprises about 1.4% of Ellsworth Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. Ellsworth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $4,893,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. ORG Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 227.6% during the 2nd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 249 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 173 shares during the period. Chilton Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Paychex during the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. ESL Trust Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Paychex during the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. Clear Investment Research LLC lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 55.8% during the 4th quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 307 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares during the period. Finally, Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Paychex during the 4th quarter valued at $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Paychex

In other Paychex news, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 19,709 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.55, for a total transaction of $2,454,755.95. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $670,452.65. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 19,709 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now owns 5,383 shares in the company, valued at $670,452.65. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 8,954 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.60, for a total transaction of $1,106,714.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 79,232 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,793,075.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 166,872 shares of company stock valued at $19,992,573 over the last three months. 11.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on PAYX shares. Barclays lowered their price target on Paychex from $120.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 1st. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on Paychex from $126.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Bank of America upped their price target on Paychex from $111.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $130.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Paychex from $125.00 to $122.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $122.46.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of PAYX traded down $0.62 on Friday, reaching $125.20. 1,171,508 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,846,948. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The stock has a market cap of $45.07 billion, a PE ratio of 26.81, a PEG ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 1.00. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $122.82 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $122.32. Paychex, Inc. has a 52-week low of $106.27 and a 52-week high of $129.92.

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

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 8th will be issued a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 8th. Paychex’s payout ratio is 83.94%.

About Paychex

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.