UMB Bank n.a. Trims Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

UMB Bank n.a. lowered its position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 1.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 116,545 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,039 shares during the quarter. UMB Bank n.a.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $15,639,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Paychex by 0.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,541,306 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,750,472,000 after purchasing an additional 123,268 shares during the period. Capital International Investors increased its stake in shares of Paychex by 12.8% during the 1st 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. FIL Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 623,000 shares during the period. Capital World Investors boosted its position in shares of Paychex by 155.6% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,478,325 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $304,338,000 after acquiring an additional 1,508,681 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Paychex by 19.5% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,356,262 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $279,351,000 after purchasing an additional 384,184 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Paychex Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of PAYX stock traded down $0.92 on Thursday, hitting $138.92. The stock had a trading volume of 130,969 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,814,843. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $131.10 and its 200-day moving average is $125.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.94, a P/E/G ratio of 3.82 and a beta of 1.00. Paychex, Inc. has a 52-week low of $106.27 and a 52-week high of $142.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 1.38.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 1st. The business services provider reported $1.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $1.32 billion during 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.82%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 83.94%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PAYX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Paychex from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. UBS Group boosted their price target on Paychex from $125.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Paychex from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on Paychex from $111.00 to $113.00 and gave the company 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Paychex presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $130.77.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paychex

In other news, CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,670 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 approximately $6,663,199.85. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,670 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 55,745 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,663,199.85. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 14,731 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.18, for a total value of $2,050,260.58. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,020,197.70. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 60,404 shares of company stock valued at $7,686,345 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 11.50% of the company’s stock.

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.