Atria Investments Inc Buys 1,567 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Atria Investments Inc lifted its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 55,502 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,567 shares during the quarter. Atria Investments Inc’s holdings in Paychex were worth $7,448,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Czech National Bank grew its position in shares of Paychex by 8.3% during the second quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 61,049 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,238,000 after purchasing an additional 4,703 shares in the last quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC grew its position in shares of Paychex by 4.9% during the first quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 10,250 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,259,000 after purchasing an additional 477 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. grew its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 6,033 shares in the last quarter. BDF Gestion purchased a new stake in shares of Paychex during the second quarter worth about $2,796,000. Finally, PGGM Investments grew its position in shares of Paychex by 57.7% during the second 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 own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 26,428 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 14,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,018,020.45. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 17,362 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,471,480.70. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 14,515 shares in the company, valued at $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 three months, insiders sold 54,174 shares of company stock valued at $7,577,231. Insiders own 11.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group increased their target price on Paychex from $125.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Paychex from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Paychex from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Barclays raised their price target on Paychex from $118.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $130.77.

Paychex Price Performance

NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $148.73 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.71, a PEG ratio of 4.08 and a beta of 0.99. Paychex, Inc. has a 1 year low of $113.87 and a 1 year high of $150.71. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $137.75 and a 200-day simple moving average of $128.34. 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.32 billion during 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 revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.14 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.98 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 83.58%.

Paychex Company Profile

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.