NewEdge Advisors LLC Sells 11,033 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

NewEdge Advisors LLC lowered its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 23.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 36,757 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 11,033 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $4,358,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of PAYX. Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Paychex by 286.0% in the 2nd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 220 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC lifted its stake in Paychex by 227.6% in the 2nd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 249 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in Paychex in the 2nd quarter worth $30,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Paychex in the 1st quarter worth $31,000. Finally, ESL Trust Services LLC purchased a new stake in Paychex in the 1st quarter worth $31,000. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Paychex from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Paychex from $111.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and twelve have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $130.71.

Paychex Stock Down 0.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ PAYX opened at $140.76 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.37. The company has a market cap of $50.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.14, a PEG ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 1.00. Paychex, Inc. has a 1 year low of $106.27 and a 1 year high of $142.04. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $129.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $124.60.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its earnings results 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 business had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 32.03% and a return on equity of 46.63%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.14 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 8th were given a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 8th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 83.94%.

Insider Transactions at Paychex

In other news, CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,670 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.53, for a total transaction of $1,514,445.10. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 55,745 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,663,199.85. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 14,434 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.21, for a total transaction of $1,807,281.14. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $674,005.43. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,670 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.53, for a total transaction of $1,514,445.10. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 55,745 shares in the company, valued at $6,663,199.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 45,673 shares of company stock valued at $5,636,085. 11.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Paychex 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.