KPP Advisory Services LLC Sells 113 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

KPP Advisory Services LLC lowered its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 2,004 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 113 shares during the period. KPP Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $269,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in PAYX. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 1.4% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 99,970 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $13,415,000 after acquiring an additional 1,424 shares during the period. Seelaus Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Paychex by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC now owns 5,242 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $703,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. First Long Island Investors LLC bought a new position in Paychex in the 3rd quarter worth about $9,408,000. Archer Investment Corp grew its holdings in Paychex by 9.7% during the 3rd quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 987 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $132,000 after buying an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empirical Finance LLC grew its holdings in Paychex by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 11,082 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,487,000 after buying an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.35, for a total value of $1,852,685.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 17,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,471,480.70. This represents a 42.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 14,731 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.18, for a total value of $2,050,260.58. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,515 shares in the company, 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 a total of 54,174 shares of company stock valued at $7,577,231 in the last three months. 11.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PAYX has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Paychex from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Paychex from $118.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price target on Paychex from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Paychex currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $130.77.

Paychex Stock Performance

PAYX opened at $142.96 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. Paychex, Inc. has a 12-month low of $114.72 and a 12-month high of $150.71. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $139.30 and a two-hundred day moving average of $129.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.45 billion, a PE ratio of 30.48, a P/E/G ratio of 3.93 and a beta of 0.99.

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

Paychex Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.74%. Paychex’s payout ratio is 83.58%.

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.