PDS Planning Inc Invests $204,000 in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

PDS Planning Inc bought a new position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 1,517 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $204,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Czech National Bank increased its stake in shares of Paychex by 8.3% in the 2nd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 61,049 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,238,000 after acquiring an additional 4,703 shares in the last quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC increased its stake in Paychex by 4.9% during the 1st quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 10,250 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,259,000 after purchasing an additional 477 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. raised its holdings in Paychex by 5.8% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 110,113 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $13,522,000 after buying an additional 6,033 shares during the last quarter. BDF Gestion bought a new position in Paychex in the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,796,000. Finally, PGGM Investments increased its holdings in Paychex by 57.7% during the 2nd quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 21,703 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,573,000 after purchasing an additional 7,943 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on PAYX shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Paychex from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Paychex from $118.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Paychex from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Paychex from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $130.77.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $139.76 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $136.69 and a 200 day moving average of $127.78. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The stock has a market cap of $50.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.80, a P/E/G ratio of 3.82 and a beta of 0.99. Paychex, Inc. has a 12 month low of $109.98 and a 12 month high of $144.17.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.14 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 7th will be issued a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.80%. Paychex’s payout ratio is currently 83.58%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 26,428 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at approximately $2,018,020.45. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of the company’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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 17,362 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,471,480.70. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 26,428 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $2,018,020.45. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 54,174 shares of company stock worth $7,577,231. 11.40% of the stock is currently owned by 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.