Bridges Investment Management Inc. Buys 499 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Bridges Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 14.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,059 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 499 shares during the quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $481,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. TrinityPoint Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 17.3% in the fourth quarter. TrinityPoint Wealth LLC now owns 4,181 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $498,000 after buying an additional 617 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Paychex in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,812,000. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in Paychex in the 4th quarter worth approximately $237,000. Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 632 shares during the period. Finally, Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board purchased a new position in shares of Paychex during the 4th quarter valued at $894,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Price Performance

PAYX stock opened at $133.26 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $47.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.54, a P/E/G ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.00. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $128.03 and its 200 day moving average is $123.82. Paychex, Inc. has a 52 week low of $106.27 and a 52 week high of $137.40. 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 (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 26th. The business services provider reported $1.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.02. Paychex had a return on equity of 46.63% and a net margin of 32.03%. The firm had revenue of $1.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.29 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.97 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 29th. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.94%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 83.94%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on PAYX. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Paychex from $126.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $130.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price 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. Barclays dropped their target price 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Paychex from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Paychex has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $123.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paychex

In other news, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 8,954 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.60, for a total value of $1,106,714.40. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 79,232 shares in the company, valued at $9,793,075.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Paychex news, CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,670 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 55,745 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,663,199.85. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 8,954 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.60, for a total value of $1,106,714.40. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 79,232 shares in the company, valued at $9,793,075.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 147,163 shares of company stock worth $17,537,817. 11.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.