Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT Has $1.19 Million Stock Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT trimmed its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 1.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 10,070 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 113 shares during the quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT’s holdings in Paychex were worth $1,194,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI raised 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 valued at $873,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,543 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $312,000 after buying an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. Rockland Trust Co. lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 9,074 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,114,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. KCM Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in 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 buying an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rocky Mountain Advisers LLC grew its position in Paychex by 3.3% in the first quarter. Rocky Mountain Advisers LLC now owns 3,168 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $389,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PAYX has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Paychex from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on Paychex from $126.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Paychex from $120.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 1st. Finally, TD Cowen increased their target price on Paychex from $121.00 to $126.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $123.00.

Paychex Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $133.17 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 1.37. Paychex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $106.27 and a fifty-two week high of $137.40. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $127.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $123.72. The company has a market capitalization of $47.91 billion, a PE ratio of 28.52, a P/E/G ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 1.00.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 26th. The business services provider reported $1.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.29 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 32.03% and a return on equity of 46.63%. Paychex’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.97 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 8th were given 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 2.94%. Paychex’s payout ratio is 83.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Paychex news, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 14,434 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 5,383 shares in the company, valued at approximately $674,005.43. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Paychex news, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 101,490 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.27, for a total value of $11,901,732.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 437,345 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $51,287,448.15. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 14,434 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 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 sold 147,163 shares of company stock valued at $17,537,817 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 11.50% of the company’s stock.

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.