Bath Savings Trust Co Trims Stock Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Bath Savings Trust Co trimmed its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 6.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 18,125 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,147 shares during the period. Bath Savings Trust Co’s holdings in Paychex were worth $2,432,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of PAYX. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Paychex by 0.8% during the second quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,847 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,167,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI increased its position in Paychex by 1.2% during the second quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI now owns 7,362 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $873,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in Paychex by 3.8% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,543 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $312,000 after buying an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. Rockland Trust Co. lifted its stake in Paychex by 1.1% in the first quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 9,074 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,114,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KCM Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 3.2% in the first quarter. KCM Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,190 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $392,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PAYX has been the subject of several research reports. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Paychex from $111.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Paychex from $118.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. TD Cowen raised their price target on Paychex from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Paychex from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $130.77.

Paychex Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of PAYX stock opened at $137.44 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $130.45 and its 200 day moving average price is $124.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $49.46 billion, a PE ratio of 29.43, a P/E/G ratio of 3.82 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 1.37. Paychex, Inc. has a 1-year low of $106.27 and a 1-year high of $142.04.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 1st. The business services provider reported $1.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analysts’ expectations of $1.31 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.14 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 8th were given a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 8th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.85%. Paychex’s payout ratio is 83.94%.

Insider Transactions at Paychex

In related news, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 9,615 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.60, for a total transaction of $1,207,644.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $676,104.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Paychex news, CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,670 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.53, for a total value of $1,514,445.10. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 55,745 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,663,199.85. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 9,615 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.60, for a total transaction of $1,207,644.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $676,104.80. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 45,673 shares of company stock valued at $5,636,085 in the last quarter. 11.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.