Lavaca Capital LLC Sells 3,983 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Lavaca Capital LLC lowered its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 63.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,330 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 3,983 shares during the period. Lavaca Capital LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $313,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 38,655.2% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 799,907 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $107,340,000 after purchasing an additional 797,843 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Paychex by 19.5% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,356,262 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $279,351,000 after buying an additional 384,184 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Paychex by 3.8% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 9,524,870 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,278,142,000 after purchasing an additional 345,682 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates raised its position in shares of Paychex by 27.4% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 988,417 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $132,636,000 after buying an additional 212,700 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. raised its position in Paychex by 175.7% during the second quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 331,115 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $39,257,000 after purchasing an additional 211,010 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Paychex Trading Up 0.4 %

Paychex stock opened at $146.27 on Friday. Paychex, Inc. has a 52-week low of $114.72 and a 52-week high of $150.71. The company has a market cap of $52.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.19, a P/E/G ratio of 4.02 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 business has a 50-day simple moving average of $141.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $130.79.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.02. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.97% and a net margin of 31.98%. The business had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.14 earnings per share. Paychex’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.98 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 7th were issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.68%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 83.58%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PAYX has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Paychex from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on Paychex from $125.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $131.62.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paychex

In related 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 17,362 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,471,480.70. The trade was a 42.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 26,428 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.03, for a total transaction of $3,674,284.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,018,020.45. The trade was a 64.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 54,174 shares of company stock valued at $7,577,231 in the last three months. 11.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.