Bar Harbor Wealth Management Sells 137 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Bar Harbor Wealth Management reduced its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 7.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,787 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 137 shares during the period. Bar Harbor Wealth Management’s holdings in Paychex were worth $240,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Czech National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 8.3% during the second quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 61,049 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,238,000 after purchasing an additional 4,703 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in Paychex by 85.1% during the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,259,393 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $154,263,000 after acquiring an additional 579,136 shares during the period. Nomura Holdings Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Paychex during the 4th quarter valued at about $774,000. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 4.9% during 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 acquiring an additional 477 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 5.8% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 110,113 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $13,522,000 after acquiring an additional 6,033 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on PAYX. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Paychex from $118.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Bank of America lifted 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. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Paychex from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of Paychex from $126.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $130.77.

Paychex Stock Performance

PAYX opened at $141.53 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $133.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $126.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 1.38. The firm has a market cap of $50.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.18, a PEG ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 1.00. Paychex, Inc. has a 1-year low of $106.27 and a 1-year high of $144.17.

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

Paychex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.77%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 83.58%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Paychex news, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Paychex news, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 14,731 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.18, for a total transaction of $2,050,260.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 14,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,020,197.70. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 17,362 shares in the company, valued at $2,471,480.70. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 87,177 shares of company stock valued at $11,698,870. Corporate insiders own 11.40% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Company 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.