Bleakley Financial Group LLC Raises Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Bleakley Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 19.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,638 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,384 shares during the quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $1,159,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of PAYX. RFG Advisory LLC lifted its stake in Paychex by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 11,779 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,447,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. raised its holdings in Paychex by 17.3% in the 1st quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 1,121 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $138,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC raised its holdings in Paychex by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 9,872 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,212,000 after acquiring an additional 262 shares during the last quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in Paychex in the 1st quarter valued at about $12,277,000. Finally, Strong Tower Advisory Services raised its holdings in Paychex by 15.2% in the 1st quarter. Strong Tower Advisory Services now owns 7,877 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $958,000 after acquiring an additional 1,040 shares during the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Paychex from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Paychex from $111.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 27th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $130.77.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paychex

In other Paychex news, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 8,954 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.60, for a total value of $1,106,714.40. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 79,232 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,793,075.20. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.35, for a total transaction of $1,852,685.25. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 17,362 shares in the company, valued at $2,471,480.70. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 8,954 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.60, for a total transaction of $1,106,714.40. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 79,232 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,793,075.20. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 87,177 shares of company stock worth $11,698,870. 11.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of PAYX stock opened at $141.53 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. Paychex, Inc. has a 52 week low of $106.27 and a 52 week high of $144.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $50.95 billion, a PE ratio of 30.31, a P/E/G ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 1.00. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $133.36 and a two-hundred day moving average of $126.22.

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

Paychex Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 7th will be given a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.77%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 83.94%.

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.