18,498 Shares in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Bought by Virtu Financial LLC

Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 18,498 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,193,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Paychex by 286.0% during the 2nd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 220 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC raised its position in Paychex by 227.6% during the second quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 249 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. ESL Trust Services LLC acquired a new stake in Paychex in the first quarter valued at $31,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Paychex in the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, American National Bank increased its stake in shares of Paychex by 166.7% during the 2nd quarter. American National Bank now owns 288 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on PAYX. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Paychex from $121.00 to $126.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Paychex from $111.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Barclays reduced their target price on Paychex from $120.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $130.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $123.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 79,232 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,793,075.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Paychex news, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 9,615 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.60, for a total value of $1,207,644.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $676,104.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 8,954 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the vice president now owns 79,232 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,793,075.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 147,163 shares of company stock worth $17,537,817 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 11.50% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of Paychex stock opened at $134.93 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 1.37. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $127.10 and a 200-day moving average of $123.59. Paychex, Inc. has a 52-week low of $106.27 and a 52-week high of $137.40. The stock has a market cap of $48.54 billion, a PE ratio of 28.89, a PEG ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 1.00.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 26th. The business services provider reported $1.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.02. Paychex had a net margin of 32.03% and a return on equity of 46.63%. The firm had revenue of $1.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.29 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.97 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 8th were given a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.91%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 8th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.