CWS Financial Advisors LLC Purchases 325 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

CWS Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 15.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,491 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 325 shares during the period. CWS Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $334,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its position in Paychex by 14.4% during the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 13,516 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,814,000 after buying an additional 1,700 shares in the last quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. increased its position in Paychex by 7.9% during the 3rd quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 38,676 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,190,000 after buying an additional 2,839 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Trust Co increased its position in Paychex by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Fiduciary Trust Co now owns 9,024 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,211,000 after buying an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. FORA Capital LLC increased its position in Paychex by 243.5% during the 3rd quarter. FORA Capital LLC now owns 18,292 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,455,000 after buying an additional 12,967 shares in the last quarter. Finally, True Vision MN LLC increased its position in Paychex by 19.4% during the 3rd quarter. True Vision MN LLC now owns 3,123 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $419,000 after buying an additional 507 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Stock Performance

PAYX stock opened at $145.71 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $52.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.00 and a beta of 0.99. Paychex, Inc. has a 1 year low of $114.72 and a 1 year high of $150.71. 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 stock’s fifty day moving average price is $141.12 and its 200-day moving average price is $130.59.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.14 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 7th were given a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.69%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 83.58%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Paychex from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Citigroup increased their target price on Paychex from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Barclays increased their target price on Paychex from $118.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Paychex from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” 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 a consensus target price of $131.62.

Insider Activity at Paychex

In related news, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 17,362 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,471,480.70. The trade was a 42.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 26,428 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.03, for a total value of $3,674,284.84. Following the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 54,174 shares of company stock worth $7,577,231. Corporate 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.