Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Boosts Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 57.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,637 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,617 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $1,696,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PAYX. CVA Family Office LLC lifted its holdings in Paychex by 5.6% in the third quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 1,388 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $186,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the period. Fortitude Family Office LLC lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 42.0% in the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 250 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the period. Kanawha Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Paychex by 1.8% during the third quarter. Kanawha Capital Management LLC now owns 4,283 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $575,000 after buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in Paychex by 0.8% during the second quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,847 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,167,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the period. Finally, Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI increased its holdings in Paychex by 1.2% in the second quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI now owns 7,362 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $873,000 after buying an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on PAYX. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Paychex from $118.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Paychex from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Paychex from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $130.77.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 14,731 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,515 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,020,197.70. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 14,731 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $2,050,260.58. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 14,515 shares in the company, valued at $2,020,197.70. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of the company’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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 17,362 shares in the company, valued at $2,471,480.70. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 54,174 shares of company stock valued at $7,577,231. 11.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Paychex Stock Performance

PAYX opened at $148.57 on Friday. Paychex, Inc. has a twelve month low of $113.70 and a twelve month high of $149.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.47 billion, a PE ratio of 31.68, a PEG ratio of 4.08 and a beta of 0.99. 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’s 50-day moving average price is $137.75 and its 200 day moving average price is $128.25.

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. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.97% and a net margin of 31.98%. The business had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.31 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.14 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 7th will be issued 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 2.64%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 83.58%.

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.