World Investment Advisors LLC Invests $593,000 in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor acquired 4,421 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $593,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PAYX. Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its stake 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 acquiring an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC grew its holdings in Paychex by 42.0% during the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 250 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in Paychex in the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. American National Bank raised its holdings in Paychex by 166.7% in the second quarter. American National Bank now owns 288 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the period. Finally, Quarry LP boosted its position in shares of Paychex by 152.6% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 293 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of the firm’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 value of $1,852,685.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 17,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,471,480.70. This trade represents a 42.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 26,428 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.03, for a total value of $3,674,284.84. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,515 shares in the company, valued at $2,018,020.45. The trade was a 64.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 54,174 shares of company stock valued at $7,577,231. 11.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. 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 report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Paychex from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Paychex has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $131.62.

Paychex Stock Up 0.2 %

Paychex stock opened at $141.20 on Tuesday. 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 1-year low of $114.72 and a 1-year high of $150.71. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $142.78 and a 200 day simple moving average of $132.28. The company has a market cap of $50.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.88 and a beta of 0.99.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 1st. The business services provider reported $1.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.02. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.97% and a net margin of 31.98%. The company had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.31 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.14 EPS. Paychex’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

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