WASHINGTON TRUST Co Trims Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

WASHINGTON TRUST Co cut its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 5.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 13,933 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 759 shares during the period. WASHINGTON TRUST Co’s holdings in Paychex were worth $1,870,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PAYX. Brookstone Capital Management raised its stake in shares of Paychex by 37.6% during the 1st quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 2,418 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $297,000 after buying an additional 661 shares during the last quarter. Norden Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Paychex during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $3,255,000. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 17.7% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 16,470 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,023,000 after purchasing an additional 2,471 shares during the last quarter. American National Bank & Trust Co. VA purchased a new position in Paychex during the first quarter worth about $815,000. Finally, Marshall Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in Paychex by 8.2% in the 1st quarter. Marshall Financial Group LLC now owns 9,699 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,191,000 after purchasing an additional 735 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PAYX has been the topic of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Paychex from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Paychex from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Paychex from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. UBS Group upped 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, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Paychex presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $130.77.

Paychex Stock Down 0.4 %

Paychex stock traded down $0.58 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $141.29. 342,832 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,782,006. Paychex, Inc. has a 1-year low of $106.27 and a 1-year high of $144.17. The stock has a market cap of $50.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.25, a P/E/G ratio of 3.86 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $135.61 and a two-hundred day moving average of $127.09.

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

Paychex Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 7th will be given a dividend of $0.98 per share. 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 83.58%.

Insider Activity at Paychex

In other news, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 14,434 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.21, for a total transaction of $1,807,281.14. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 5,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $674,005.43. 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 accessible through this link. In related news, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 14,434 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.21, for a total value of $1,807,281.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $674,005.43. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 14,731 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.18, for a total transaction of $2,050,260.58. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 14,515 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,020,197.70. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 68,608 shares of company stock valued at $9,384,512 in the last ninety days. 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.