Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. Buys 2,986 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 92,760 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,986 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $10,998,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in PAYX. TrinityPoint Wealth LLC boosted its position in Paychex by 17.3% during the 4th quarter. TrinityPoint Wealth LLC now owns 4,181 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $498,000 after acquiring an additional 617 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Paychex during the fourth quarter worth $33,812,000. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Paychex during the fourth quarter worth $237,000. D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its position in Paychex by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 30,304 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,610,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in Paychex by 10.3% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 6,743 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $803,000 after buying an additional 632 shares during the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on PAYX shares. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of Paychex from $126.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Paychex from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Paychex from $121.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Paychex from $125.00 to $122.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $130.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $123.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paychex

In other news, CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,670 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The stock was 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. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 9,615 shares of the business’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 value of $1,207,644.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 5,383 shares in the company, valued at $676,104.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,670 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The stock was 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 approximately $6,663,199.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 147,163 shares of company stock valued at $17,537,817 in the last ninety days. 11.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of PAYX opened at $133.26 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $128.03 and its 200-day moving average is $123.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.94 billion, a PE ratio of 28.54, a PEG ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.00. Paychex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $106.27 and a fifty-two week high of $137.40.

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

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 8th were paid a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 8th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.94%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.