Secure Asset Management LLC Buys Shares of 3,226 Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Secure Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 3,226 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $433,000.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Czech National Bank increased its position in Paychex by 8.3% in the second quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 61,049 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,238,000 after buying an additional 4,703 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in shares of Paychex by 85.1% during 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 acquiring an additional 579,136 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex in the 4th quarter worth about $774,000. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC lifted its position in Paychex by 4.9% in the 1st quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 10,250 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,259,000 after purchasing an additional 477 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in Paychex by 5.8% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 110,113 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $13,522,000 after purchasing an additional 6,033 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Paychex from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Paychex from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Paychex from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. UBS Group lifted their price objective 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, Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Paychex from $111.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Paychex has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $130.77.

Paychex Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $141.53 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $50.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.18, a PEG ratio of 3.91 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 company has a 50 day moving average price of $133.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $126.15. Paychex, Inc. has a 1-year low of $106.27 and a 1-year high of $144.17.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its 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 return on equity of 45.97% and a net margin of 31.98%. The company had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.14 earnings per share. Paychex’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 7th will be issued a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 7th. Paychex’s payout ratio is 83.58%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 8,954 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the vice president now owns 79,232 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,793,075.20. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 8,954 shares of the company’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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 79,232 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,793,075.20. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 9,615 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.60, for a total value of $1,207,644.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 5,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $676,104.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 87,177 shares of company stock worth $11,698,870 over the last ninety days. 11.40% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.