Moors & Cabot Inc. Decreases Stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Moors & Cabot Inc. cut its holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 1.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 8,349 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 100 shares during the period. Moors & Cabot Inc.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $1,120,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Paychex in the 3rd quarter valued at $85,000. Portfolio Design Labs LLC purchased a new stake in Paychex during the third quarter worth $1,764,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Paychex by 15.1% in the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 27,272 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,660,000 after acquiring an additional 3,585 shares during the last quarter. MWA Asset Management increased its stake in shares of Paychex by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. MWA Asset Management now owns 3,931 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $528,000 after purchasing an additional 147 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strategy Asset Managers LLC raised its stake in Paychex by 9.2% in the 3rd quarter. Strategy Asset Managers LLC now owns 2,997 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $402,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on PAYX. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Citigroup lifted 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. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price target on Paychex from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $131.62.

Paychex Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $144.09 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $51.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.72, a P/E/G ratio of 3.87 and a beta of 0.99. 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 company’s 50-day moving average price is $140.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $129.75. Paychex, Inc. has a 12 month low of $114.72 and a 12 month 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 firm had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.97% and a net margin of 31.98%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.14 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 7th will be given a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 83.58%.

Insider Activity at Paychex

In other Paychex news, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 17,362 shares in the company, valued at $2,471,480.70. This trade represents a 42.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 14,731 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 14,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,020,197.70. This trade represents a 50.37 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 54,174 shares of company stock valued at $7,577,231. Insiders own 11.40% of the company’s stock.

About Paychex

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.