Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. Acquires 829 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. boosted its holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 18,726 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 829 shares during the quarter. Paychex accounts for approximately 0.7% of Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $2,513,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Czech National Bank lifted its stake in Paychex by 8.3% during the 2nd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 61,049 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,238,000 after acquiring an additional 4,703 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 85.1% during the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,259,393 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $154,263,000 after buying an additional 579,136 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Paychex in the 4th quarter worth approximately $774,000. SageView Advisory Group LLC increased its position in shares of Paychex by 189.9% during the fourth quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 10,968 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,343,000 after acquiring an additional 7,185 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HBK Sorce Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of Paychex by 4.9% during the 1st quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 10,250 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,259,000 after purchasing an additional 477 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Paychex news, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 8,954 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 79,232 shares in the company, valued at $9,793,075.20. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Paychex news, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 8,954 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 79,232 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,793,075.20. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 26,428 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 9th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $2,018,020.45. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 74,162 shares of company stock valued at $9,846,185. Corporate insiders own 11.50% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on PAYX shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Paychex from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. TD Cowen raised their target price on Paychex from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Barclays increased their price target on Paychex from $118.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Paychex from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $130.77.

Paychex Trading Down 0.3 %

NASDAQ PAYX opened at $138.89 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $131.59 and a 200-day moving average of $125.50. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. Paychex, Inc. has a 1-year low of $106.27 and a 1-year high of $142.04. The firm has a market cap of $50.00 billion, a PE ratio of 29.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 1.00.

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

Paychex Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 7th will be given a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.82%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is 83.94%.

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.