Royal Fund Management LLC Has $7.40 Million Stock Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Royal Fund Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 97.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 54,338 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 26,826 shares during the quarter. Royal Fund Management LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $7,402,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Paychex by 286.0% in the 2nd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 220 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares during the period. ORG Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Paychex by 227.6% in the second quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 249 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. ESL Trust Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Paychex in the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Paychex during the first quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, American National Bank increased its stake in Paychex by 166.7% during the 2nd quarter. American National Bank now owns 288 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PAYX has been the topic of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $118.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Paychex from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $130.77.

Paychex Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of Paychex stock traded up $0.71 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $138.87. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 28,538 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,817,681. The stock has a market cap of $49.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.58, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 52 week low of $106.27 and a 52 week high of $142.04. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $130.86 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $125.10.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 1st. The business services provider reported $1.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.02. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.97% and a net margin of 31.98%. The company had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.31 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.14 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,670 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 55,745 shares in the company, valued at $6,663,199.85. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Paychex news, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 8,954 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 79,232 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,793,075.20. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,670 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.53, for a total transaction of $1,514,445.10. Following the completion of 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 60,404 shares of company stock valued at $7,686,345 over the last quarter. Insiders own 11.50% of the company’s stock.

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.