Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Shares Acquired by Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp

Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp increased its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 21.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,569 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,666 shares during the period. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp’s holdings in Paychex were worth $1,283,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 38,655.2% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 799,907 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $107,340,000 after purchasing an additional 797,843 shares during the period. Barclays PLC grew its position in shares of Paychex by 46.2% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,748,485 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $234,627,000 after buying an additional 552,540 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Paychex by 19.5% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,356,262 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $279,351,000 after acquiring an additional 384,184 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Paychex by 3.8% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 9,524,870 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,278,142,000 after acquiring an additional 345,682 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Unigestion Holding SA boosted its stake in Paychex by 2,139.2% in the third quarter. Unigestion Holding SA now owns 295,692 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $39,667,000 after acquiring an additional 282,487 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on PAYX shares. Citigroup raised their price target on Paychex from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Barclays lifted their target price on Paychex from $118.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. TD Cowen increased their price target on Paychex from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. 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 report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $131.62.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of PAYX opened at $140.98 on Monday. 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’s 50 day moving average is $142.71 and its 200-day moving average is $132.12. Paychex, Inc. has a 12-month low of $114.72 and a 12-month high of $150.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $50.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.06, a P/E/G ratio of 3.88 and a beta of 0.99.

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

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 7th were issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.78%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is 83.58%.

Insider Activity at Paychex

In other Paychex news, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 $2,471,480.70. This trade represents a 42.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 26,428 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.03, for a total transaction of $3,674,284.84. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 14,515 shares in the company, valued at $2,018,020.45. This represents a 64.55 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 54,174 shares of company stock worth $7,577,231 in the last quarter. 11.40% of the stock is 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.