Central Pacific Bank Trust Division Decreases Stock Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Central Pacific Bank Trust Division decreased its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 0.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 18,181 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 96 shares during the quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division’s holdings in Paychex were worth $2,549,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in PAYX. Rothschild Investment LLC purchased a new position in shares of Paychex during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $85,000. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 9.0% in the second quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 98,546 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $11,684,000 after acquiring an additional 8,174 shares during the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 0.7% in the second quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 27,534 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,264,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 54.9% during the second quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 5,044 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $598,000 after acquiring an additional 1,787 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FineMark National Bank & Trust increased its position in Paychex by 9.5% during the 2nd quarter. FineMark National Bank & Trust now owns 6,900 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $818,000 after purchasing an additional 598 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Paychex from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, TD Cowen upped their target price on Paychex from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the company 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $132.23.

Paychex Trading Up 0.9 %

PAYX stock traded up $1.24 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $139.74. 361,557 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 974,288. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 1.38. The company has a market capitalization of $50.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.80, a PEG ratio of 3.88 and a beta of 0.99. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $142.50 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $133.76. Paychex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $114.72 and a fifty-two week high of $150.71.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.08 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 7th were issued a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.81%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 82.53%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 26,428 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,515 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,018,020.45. This represents a 64.55 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction of $1,852,685.25. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 17,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,471,480.70. The trade was a 42.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 11.40% of the company’s stock.

Paychex 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.