Guinness Atkinson Asset Management Inc Trims Stock Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Guinness Atkinson Asset Management Inc trimmed its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,848 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 246 shares during the period. Guinness Atkinson Asset Management Inc’s holdings in Paychex were worth $919,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of PAYX. Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Paychex by 286.0% during the second quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 220 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 163 shares during the period. ORG Partners LLC grew its holdings in Paychex by 227.6% in the second quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 249 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new position in shares of Paychex during the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Paychex during the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, ESL Trust Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Paychex in the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Paychex from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Paychex from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Paychex from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Paychex from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $130.77.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of Paychex stock traded down $0.40 on Friday, hitting $138.89. 1,498,067 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,817,102. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $50.00 billion, a PE ratio of 29.74, a PEG ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 1.00. Paychex, Inc. has a 1 year low of $106.27 and a 1 year high of $142.04. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $131.59 and a 200-day simple moving average of $125.44.

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. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.98 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

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 $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.82%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 83.94%.

Insider Transactions at Paychex

In related news, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 8,954 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.60, for a total value of $1,106,714.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 79,232 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,793,075.20. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 14,731 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.18, for a total transaction of $2,050,260.58. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 14,515 shares in the company, valued at $2,020,197.70. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 8,954 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.60, for a total transaction of $1,106,714.40. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 79,232 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,793,075.20. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 86,832 shares of company stock valued at $11,360,630 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 11.50% 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.