Cumberland Partners Ltd Purchases 5,000 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Cumberland Partners Ltd grew its position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 62.5% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 13,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,000 shares during the period. Cumberland Partners Ltd’s holdings in Paychex were worth $1,744,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. CVA Family Office LLC boosted its holdings in Paychex by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 1,388 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $186,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the period. Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its holdings in Paychex by 42.0% during the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 250 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the period. Kanawha Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Paychex by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Kanawha Capital Management LLC now owns 4,283 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $575,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the period. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Paychex by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,847 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,167,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares during the period. Finally, Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI boosted its holdings in Paychex by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI now owns 7,362 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $873,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.35, for a total value of $1,852,685.25. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 17,362 shares in the company, valued at $2,471,480.70. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.35, for a total value of $1,852,685.25. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 17,362 shares in the company, valued at $2,471,480.70. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 14,731 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.18, for a total value of $2,050,260.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 14,515 shares in the company, valued at $2,020,197.70. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 54,174 shares of company stock worth $7,577,231 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 11.40% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of PAYX stock traded up $0.22 on Tuesday, reaching $148.95. The stock had a trading volume of 90,203 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,779,815. The stock has a market cap of $53.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.08 and a beta of 0.99. 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 company has a 50 day simple moving average of $138.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $128.52. Paychex, Inc. has a 1 year low of $113.87 and a 1 year high of $150.71.

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. Equities research analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.98 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The business 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.63%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 83.58%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on PAYX. Barclays increased their target price on Paychex from $118.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Paychex from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Paychex from $125.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Paychex from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price objective on Paychex from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Paychex presently has an average 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.