Fiduciary Trust Co Boosts Stock Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Fiduciary Trust Co increased its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,024 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 142 shares during the quarter. Fiduciary Trust Co’s holdings in Paychex were worth $1,211,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. CVA Family Office LLC grew its holdings in Paychex by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 1,388 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $186,000 after buying an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC grew its stake in Paychex by 42.0% during the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 250 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Kanawha Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Paychex by 1.8% during the third quarter. Kanawha Capital Management LLC now owns 4,283 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $575,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Baron Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Paychex by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Baron Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,628 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $487,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares during the period. Finally, Daymark Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in Paychex by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,847 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,167,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Paychex Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of PAYX opened at $146.27 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $52.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.19, a PEG ratio of 4.00 and a beta of 0.99. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $141.39 and a 200-day moving average price of $130.74. Paychex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $114.72 and a fifty-two week high of $150.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 1.38.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 31.98% and a return on equity of 45.97%. The company’s revenue was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.14 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 7th were paid a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.68%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 83.58%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paychex

In other Paychex 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 value of $1,852,685.25. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 17,362 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,471,480.70. The trade was a 42.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 26,428 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the vice president now owns 14,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,018,020.45. This represents a 64.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over 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.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on PAYX. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Paychex from $125.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Paychex from $118.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Paychex currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $131.62.

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.