Raymond James & Associates Acquires 212,700 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Raymond James & Associates lifted its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 27.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 988,417 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 212,700 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates owned about 0.27% of Paychex worth $132,636,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Czech National Bank grew its position in shares of Paychex by 8.3% during the 2nd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 61,049 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,238,000 after acquiring an additional 4,703 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in Paychex by 85.1% in the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,259,393 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $154,263,000 after buying an additional 579,136 shares during the last quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of Paychex by 4.9% in the first quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 10,250 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,259,000 after buying an additional 477 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. raised its stake in shares of Paychex by 5.8% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 110,113 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $13,522,000 after buying an additional 6,033 shares during the period. Finally, BDF Gestion purchased a new position in shares of Paychex during the 2nd quarter valued at $2,796,000. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on PAYX. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of Paychex from $126.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Citigroup increased their target price on Paychex from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on Paychex from $125.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $130.77.

Insider Activity at Paychex

In other Paychex news, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 17,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,471,480.70. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.35, for a total value of $1,852,685.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 17,362 shares in the company, valued at $2,471,480.70. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 8,954 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.60, for a total transaction of $1,106,714.40. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 79,232 shares in the company, valued at $9,793,075.20. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 87,177 shares of company stock worth $11,698,870 over the last ninety days. 11.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Paychex Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of PAYX opened at $141.53 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $50.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.31, a PEG ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 1.00. Paychex, Inc. has a twelve month low of $106.27 and a twelve month high of $144.17. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $133.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $126.18.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 1st. The business services provider reported $1.16 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.02. Paychex had a net margin of 31.98% and a return on equity of 45.97%. The business had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.14 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.98 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.77%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 7th. Paychex’s payout ratio is presently 83.94%.

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.