American Trust Has $3.48 Million Stock Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

American Trust lowered its position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 5.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 29,325 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,744 shares during the quarter. American Trust’s holdings in Paychex were worth $3,477,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Paychex by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,541,306 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,750,472,000 after buying an additional 123,268 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in Paychex by 12.8% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 20,878,283 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,563,853,000 after acquiring an additional 2,373,894 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Paychex by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,687,859 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $320,151,000 after purchasing an additional 56,793 shares during the period. FIL Ltd raised its holdings in Paychex by 32.4% during the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 2,548,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $303,492,000 after purchasing an additional 623,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors lifted its position in Paychex by 155.6% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,478,325 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $304,338,000 after purchasing an additional 1,508,681 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PAYX has been the subject of several recent research reports. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Paychex from $121.00 to $126.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Paychex from $111.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Barclays raised their target price on Paychex from $118.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Citigroup upped their price target on Paychex from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $122.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $125.62.

Insider Activity

In other Paychex news, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 14,434 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.21, for a total transaction of $1,807,281.14. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 5,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $674,005.43. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Paychex news, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 8,954 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.60, for a total transaction of $1,106,714.40. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 79,232 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,793,075.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 14,434 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 5,383 shares in the company, valued at approximately $674,005.43. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 45,673 shares of company stock worth $5,636,085 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 11.50% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of Paychex stock opened at $140.79 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.37. The firm has a market cap of $50.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 1.00. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $129.53 and its 200-day moving average is $124.49. Paychex, Inc. has a one year low of $106.27 and a one year high of $141.59.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 8th were paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 8th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.78%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 83.94%.

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.