Wealth Alliance Has $413,000 Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Wealth Alliance lessened its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 45.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,484 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,853 shares during the period. Wealth Alliance’s holdings in Paychex were worth $413,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 286.0% in the 2nd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 220 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares during the period. ORG Partners LLC lifted its position in Paychex by 227.6% in the second quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 249 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the period. ESL Trust Services LLC acquired a new stake in Paychex during the first quarter worth $31,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Paychex in the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, American National Bank raised its stake in shares of Paychex by 166.7% in the 2nd quarter. American National Bank now owns 288 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Paychex

In related news, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 14,434 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $674,005.43. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Paychex news, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 101,490 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.27, for a total transaction of $11,901,732.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 437,345 shares in the company, valued at approximately $51,287,448.15. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 14,434 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now owns 5,383 shares in the company, valued at $674,005.43. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 147,163 shares of company stock worth $17,537,817 over the last 90 days. 11.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Paychex Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ PAYX opened at $133.17 on Friday. Paychex, Inc. has a 12-month low of $106.27 and a 12-month high of $137.40. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $127.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $123.72. The company has a quick ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The company has a market cap of $47.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 1.00.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, June 26th. The business services provider reported $1.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.29 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 32.03% and a return on equity of 46.63%. Paychex’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.97 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 8th were paid a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 8th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.94%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 83.94%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on PAYX. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Paychex from $120.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 1st. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Paychex from $125.00 to $122.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Paychex from $126.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Paychex from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on Paychex from $111.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $123.00.

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.