Founders Financial Alliance LLC Takes $235,000 Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Founders Financial Alliance LLC purchased a new position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 1,985 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $235,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Czech National Bank grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 8.3% during the 2nd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 61,049 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,238,000 after purchasing an additional 4,703 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in Paychex during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,400,000. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in Paychex by 85.1% during the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,259,393 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $154,263,000 after buying an additional 579,136 shares during the last quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. bought a new position in Paychex in the fourth quarter worth approximately $23,330,000. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 13.9% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 82,955 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $9,880,000 after acquiring an additional 10,143 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Stock Up 4.9 %

PAYX opened at $140.79 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $50.68 billion, a PE ratio of 30.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 1.00. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $129.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $124.49. The company has a quick ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. Paychex, Inc. has a 52 week low of $106.27 and a 52 week high of $141.59.

Paychex Announces Dividend

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 dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 8th. Paychex’s payout ratio is presently 83.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paychex

In other news, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 14,434 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the director now directly owns 5,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $674,005.43. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Paychex news, CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,670 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.53, for a total value of $1,514,445.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 55,745 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,663,199.85. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 14,434 shares of the company’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 sale, the director now owns 5,383 shares in the company, valued at $674,005.43. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 45,673 shares of company stock worth $5,636,085 in the last quarter. 11.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on PAYX. Bank of America raised their target price on Paychex from $111.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Paychex from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $130.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Paychex from $118.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $125.62.

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.