Trust Co. of Vermont Sells 153 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Trust Co. of Vermont cut its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 0.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 39,543 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 153 shares during the quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont’s holdings in Paychex were worth $5,306,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in PAYX. Nomura Holdings Inc. bought a new position in shares of Paychex during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $774,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Paychex by 35.5% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,104 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $258,000 after purchasing an additional 551 shares in the last quarter. RFG Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in Paychex by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 11,779 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,447,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Rockland Trust Co. lifted its holdings in Paychex by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 9,074 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,114,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Finally, &PARTNERS lifted its holdings in Paychex by 78.8% in the 1st quarter. &PARTNERS now owns 14,104 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,741,000 after purchasing an additional 6,214 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on PAYX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Paychex from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Paychex from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Paychex from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Bank of America upped their price objective on Paychex from $111.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Paychex from $118.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Paychex presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $130.77.

Paychex Stock Performance

NASDAQ PAYX opened at $142.32 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $51.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.48, a P/E/G ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 1.00. 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 business’s 50 day moving average price is $133.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $126.01. Paychex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $106.27 and a fifty-two week high of $144.17.

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

Paychex Dividend Announcement

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 dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.75%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 83.94%.

Insider Activity

In other Paychex news, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $2,471,480.70. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Paychex news, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $2,471,480.70. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 8,954 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the transaction, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 87,177 shares of company stock valued at $11,698,870. 11.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.