Buck Wealth Strategies LLC Cuts Stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Buck Wealth Strategies LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 34.5% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,345 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,764 shares during the period. Buck Wealth Strategies LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $449,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PAYX. Sei Investments Co. increased its position in shares of Paychex by 5.8% in 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 last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of Paychex by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 8,225 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,010,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 33.0% in the 1st quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,933 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $974,000 after buying an additional 1,968 shares in the last quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 7.3% in the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 378,775 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $43,404,000 after buying an additional 25,852 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 17.3% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 405,091 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $49,745,000 after buying an additional 59,630 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Paychex from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Paychex from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Paychex from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $130.77.

Paychex Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $148.00 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $138.10 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $128.52. Paychex, Inc. has a twelve month low of $113.87 and a twelve month high of $150.71. The company has a market capitalization of $53.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.09 and a beta of 0.99.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted 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. Paychex had a net margin of 31.98% and a return on equity of 45.97%. The firm had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.14 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.65%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 83.58%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Paychex news, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 17,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,471,480.70. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 17,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,471,480.70. 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 at the SEC website. Also, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 26,428 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,515 shares in the company, valued at $2,018,020.45. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 54,174 shares of company stock valued at $7,577,231 in the last ninety days. 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.