Indie Asset Partners LLC Buys Shares of 2,249 Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Indie Asset Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 2,249 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $302,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norden Group LLC acquired a new stake in Paychex in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $231,000. Tobam boosted its position in shares of Paychex by 43.2% during the first quarter. Tobam now owns 1,849 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $227,000 after buying an additional 558 shares during the period. Goelzer Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Paychex during the first quarter worth $200,000. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Paychex in the 1st quarter valued at $276,000. Finally, 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 worth $154,263,000 after acquiring an additional 579,136 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Paychex news, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 14,434 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.21, for a total value of $1,807,281.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 5,383 shares in the company, valued at $674,005.43. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 14,434 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.21, for a total value of $1,807,281.14. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 5,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $674,005.43. This 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 can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 14,515 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,018,020.45. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 68,608 shares of company stock worth $9,384,512 in the last ninety days. 11.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Paychex Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ PAYX opened at $139.09 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $136.31 and a two-hundred day moving average of $127.43. The company has a market capitalization of $50.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.83 and a beta of 0.99. Paychex, Inc. has a 1 year low of $108.58 and a 1 year high of $144.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 1.38.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.31 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.97% and a net margin of 31.98%. The firm’s revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.14 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 83.58%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on PAYX. Barclays lifted their target price on Paychex from $118.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Paychex from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Paychex from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company 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 issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $130.77.

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.