Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Shares Sold by Axxcess Wealth Management LLC

Axxcess Wealth Management LLC decreased its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 37.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 13,295 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 8,123 shares during the period. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $1,576,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of PAYX. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Paychex by 0.4% in 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 during the period. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 12.8% in 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 purchasing an additional 2,373,894 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Paychex by 2.2% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. FIL Ltd raised its holdings in Paychex by 32.4% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 2,548,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $303,492,000 after buying an additional 623,000 shares during the period. Finally, Capital World Investors lifted its position in Paychex by 155.6% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,478,325 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $304,338,000 after buying an additional 1,508,681 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paychex

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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $674,005.43. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Paychex news, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 14,434 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.21, for a total transaction of $1,807,281.14. Following the sale, the director now owns 5,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $674,005.43. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 9,615 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now directly owns 5,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $676,104.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 147,163 shares of company stock worth $17,537,817. 11.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on PAYX. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Paychex from $121.00 to $126.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $130.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Paychex from $125.00 to $122.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Paychex from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Paychex from $120.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 1st. 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, Paychex has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $123.00.

Paychex Stock Down 1.8 %

PAYX stock opened at $132.50 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $127.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $123.66. The company has a market capitalization of $47.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.37, a PEG ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 1.00. Paychex, Inc. has a twelve month low of $106.27 and a twelve month high of $137.40. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

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

Paychex Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 8th were issued a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.96%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 8th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 83.94%.

Paychex 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.