Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. Sells 400 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. decreased its holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 6,038 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 400 shares during the quarter. Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $810,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on PAYX shares. Citigroup lifted their target price on Paychex from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Paychex from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Barclays lifted their target price on Paychex from $118.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Paychex from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $130.77.

Paychex Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PAYX traded up $2.01 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $148.57. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,022,161 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,458,583. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $137.75 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $128.25. Paychex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $113.70 and a fifty-two week high of $149.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 1.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.68, a PEG ratio of 4.08 and a beta of 0.99.

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

Paychex Announces Dividend

The company 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 yield of 2.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 83.58%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Paychex news, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.35, for a total transaction of $1,852,685.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 17,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,471,480.70. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Paychex news, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.35, for a total transaction of $1,852,685.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 17,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,471,480.70. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 26,428 shares of the business’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 value of $3,674,284.84. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,515 shares of the company’s stock, 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 have sold 54,174 shares of company stock valued at $7,577,231. 11.40% of the stock is 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.