Vista Investment Partners LLC Boosts Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Vista Investment Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 26,754 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 184 shares during the quarter. Vista Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $3,590,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in PAYX. Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Paychex by 286.0% in the 2nd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 220 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 173 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new position in shares of Paychex in the second quarter worth about $30,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Paychex during the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, ESL Trust Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Paychex during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $31,000. 83.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paychex

In other news, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 8,954 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 24th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $9,793,075.20. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 8,954 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 79,232 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,793,075.20. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were 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. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 87,177 shares of company stock worth $11,698,870 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 11.50% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Stock Up 0.0 %

Shares of PAYX opened at $142.32 on Friday. 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 has a market capitalization of $51.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.48, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 $144.17. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $133.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $126.01.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 1st. The business services provider reported $1.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by $0.02. Paychex had a net margin of 31.98% and a return on equity of 45.97%. The company had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.14 earnings per share. Paychex’s revenue was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.75%. Paychex’s payout ratio is currently 83.94%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on PAYX. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Paychex from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Paychex from $111.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Citigroup raised their price target on Paychex from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Paychex from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $130.77.

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.