Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Shares Bought by EP Wealth Advisors LLC

EP Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 9.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 36,364 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,282 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $4,880,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Czech National Bank raised its holdings in Paychex by 8.3% during the second quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 61,049 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,238,000 after purchasing an additional 4,703 shares in the last quarter. RFG Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of Paychex by 11.2% during the 2nd quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 13,100 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,553,000 after buying an additional 1,321 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 14.3% in the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 22,820 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,706,000 after buying an additional 2,849 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital lifted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 7.2% in the 2nd quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 2,125 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $251,000 after buying an additional 143 shares during the period. Finally, M&G Plc purchased a new stake in shares of Paychex in the second quarter valued at approximately $2,068,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $142.86 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 1.38. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $142.45 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $131.46. The stock has a market cap of $51.42 billion, a PE ratio of 30.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.96 and a beta of 0.99. Paychex, Inc. has a one year low of $114.72 and a one year high of $150.71.

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

Paychex Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Paychex from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Paychex from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Paychex from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Paychex currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $131.62.

Insider Activity at Paychex

In other news, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 26,428 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.03, for a total transaction 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. This represents a 64.55 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 17,362 shares in the company, valued at $2,471,480.70. This represents a 42.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 54,174 shares of company stock valued at $7,577,231. Company insiders own 11.40% of the company’s stock.

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.