Ballentine Partners LLC Has $1.47 Million Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 7.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,960 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 780 shares during the quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $1,471,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of PAYX. Capital International Investors grew its position in Paychex by 12.8% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 20,878,283 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,563,853,000 after purchasing an additional 2,373,894 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 155.6% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,478,325 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $304,338,000 after acquiring an additional 1,508,681 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Paychex by 38,655.2% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 799,907 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $107,340,000 after buying an additional 797,843 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 57.2% in the 1st quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 2,179,930 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $267,695,000 after acquiring an additional 793,468 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in Paychex by 85.1% in the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,259,393 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $154,263,000 after purchasing an additional 579,136 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PAYX has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Paychex from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Paychex from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Paychex from $118.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $130.77.

Paychex Stock Performance

PAYX opened at $140.33 on Friday. 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 12-month low of $106.27 and a 12-month high of $144.17. The business has a 50 day moving average of $134.67 and a 200-day moving average of $126.71. The stock has a market cap of $50.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.92, a PEG ratio of 3.88 and a beta of 1.00.

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, beating 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 analysts’ expectations of $1.31 billion. During the same quarter 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. On average, equities research analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.79%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 83.58%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 14,731 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.18, for a total transaction of $2,050,260.58. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,020,197.70. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 14,731 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.18, for a total transaction of $2,050,260.58. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,020,197.70. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 68,608 shares of company stock worth $9,384,512 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 11.40% of the company’s stock.

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.