Kestra Investment Management LLC Makes New $600,000 Investment in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 4,473 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $600,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Erste Asset Management GmbH acquired a new stake in Paychex in the third quarter valued at approximately $6,051,000. Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY increased its position in shares of Paychex by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY now owns 57,778 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,753,000 after purchasing an additional 590 shares during the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex in the 3rd quarter valued at $2,426,000. L.M. Kohn & Company lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. L.M. Kohn & Company now owns 8,361 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,122,000 after purchasing an additional 269 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kolinsky Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Kolinsky Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,087 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $683,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of Paychex stock opened at $146.27 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $141.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $130.83. Paychex, Inc. has a 12 month low of $114.72 and a 12 month high of $150.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.19, a PEG ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 1.38.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 1st. The business services provider reported $1.16 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 analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.14 earnings per share. Paychex’s quarterly revenue was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on PAYX. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Paychex from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Barclays increased their price objective 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. boosted their target price on Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Paychex currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $131.62.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Paychex news, 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 value of $1,852,685.25. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 17,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,471,480.70. The trade was a 42.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 26,428 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the vice president now owns 14,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,018,020.45. This trade represents a 64.55 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 54,174 shares of company stock valued at $7,577,231. 11.40% of the stock is owned by company 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.