Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Shares Sold by Webster Bank N. A.

Webster Bank N. A. decreased its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 30,663 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,753 shares during the quarter. Webster Bank N. A.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $4,115,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PAYX. V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its holdings in Paychex by 30.3% in the 4th quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 6,171 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $735,000 after buying an additional 1,435 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,400,000. EP Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Paychex by 8.6% in the 4th quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 31,682 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,774,000 after buying an additional 2,513 shares during the period. Fortis Group Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Paychex by 100.0% in the 4th quarter. Fortis Group Advisors LLC now owns 596 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $71,000 after buying an additional 298 shares during the period. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at about $89,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paychex

In related news, CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,670 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.53, for a total transaction of $1,514,445.10. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 55,745 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,663,199.85. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,670 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.53, for a total transaction of $1,514,445.10. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 55,745 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,663,199.85. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 14,731 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.18, for a total value of $2,050,260.58. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,515 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,020,197.70. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 86,832 shares of company stock valued at $11,360,630 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 11.50% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of PAYX traded down $0.40 during trading on Friday, reaching $138.89. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,498,067 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,817,102. The company has a fifty day moving average of $131.59 and a two-hundred day moving average of $125.48. Paychex, Inc. has a twelve month low of $106.27 and a twelve month high of $142.04. The company has a market cap of $50.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.74, a P/E/G ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

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, beating 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 prior year, the company posted $1.14 EPS. Paychex’s quarterly revenue was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on PAYX shares. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Paychex from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Paychex from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Paychex from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Citigroup boosted their target price on Paychex from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Paychex from $118.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $130.77.

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.