Captrust Financial Advisors Has $7.73 Million Stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 57,573 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,569 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors’ holdings in Paychex were worth $7,726,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. CWS Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Paychex by 15.0% during the third quarter. CWS Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,491 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $334,000 after acquiring an additional 325 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its position in shares of Paychex by 14.4% during the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 13,516 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,814,000 after purchasing an additional 1,700 shares in the last quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. grew its stake in Paychex by 7.9% during the third quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 38,676 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,190,000 after purchasing an additional 2,839 shares during the period. Fiduciary Trust Co increased its holdings in Paychex by 1.6% in the third quarter. Fiduciary Trust Co now owns 9,024 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,211,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FORA Capital LLC lifted its stake in Paychex by 243.5% in the third quarter. FORA Capital LLC now owns 18,292 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,455,000 after buying an additional 12,967 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” 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 company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Paychex from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Citigroup raised their price objective on Paychex from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Paychex presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $131.62.

Paychex Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $145.45 on Tuesday. Paychex, Inc. has a 1 year low of $114.72 and a 1 year high of $150.71. The company has a market capitalization of $52.35 billion, a PE ratio of 31.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.99. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $141.39 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $130.83. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 1st. The business services provider reported $1.16 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.02. Paychex had a net margin of 31.98% and a return on equity of 45.97%. The business had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.14 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 7th were given a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 83.58%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paychex

In related news, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of Paychex 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 directly owns 17,362 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,471,480.70. The trade was a 42.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 14,731 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.18, for a total value of $2,050,260.58. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 14,515 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,020,197.70. This represents a 50.37 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 54,174 shares of company stock worth $7,577,231 over the last ninety days. 11.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.