IHT Wealth Management LLC Acquires 997 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

IHT Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 11.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,057 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 997 shares during the period. IHT Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $1,360,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 13,427 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,802,000 after purchasing an additional 703 shares during the period. Investment Management Corp of Ontario lifted its position in Paychex by 1.9% in the third quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario now owns 45,742 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,138,000 after buying an additional 852 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in Paychex by 334.7% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 260,590 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $34,966,000 after buying an additional 200,640 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its position in Paychex by 1.9% during the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 143,554 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $19,267,000 after acquiring an additional 2,717 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hilltop Holdings Inc. raised its stake in shares of Paychex by 199.1% in the third quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. now owns 36,847 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,944,000 after acquiring an additional 24,528 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Paychex news, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 26,428 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.03, for a total value of $3,674,284.84. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,018,020.45. The trade was a 64.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of the 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 17,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,471,480.70. This represents a 42.84 % 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 worth $7,577,231. 11.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Paychex Trading Down 1.1 %

NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $142.40 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $142.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $131.27. Paychex, Inc. has a one year low of $114.72 and a one year high of $150.71. The firm has a market cap of $51.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.36, a P/E/G ratio of 3.97 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.

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

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 7th were paid a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.75%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 83.58%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on PAYX shares. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Citigroup upped their target price on Paychex from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. UBS Group raised their price target on Paychex from $125.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Paychex from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Paychex from $118.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Paychex has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $131.62.

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.