Cetera Investment Advisers Trims Stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Cetera Investment Advisers lessened its holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 4.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 112,132 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 5,215 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers’ holdings in Paychex were worth $13,294,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PAYX. 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in Paychex in the second quarter worth $397,000. IMS Capital Management lifted its position in Paychex by 3.3% in the second quarter. IMS Capital Management now owns 17,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,129,000 after purchasing an additional 540 shares during the last quarter. HWG Holdings LP purchased a new stake in shares of Paychex during the second quarter valued at approximately $63,000. Chase Investment Counsel Corp grew its holdings in shares of Paychex by 7.9% in the second quarter. Chase Investment Counsel Corp now owns 3,566 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $422,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Paychex by 2.4% in the second quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 33,082 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,922,000 after buying an additional 790 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Paychex news, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 8,954 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.60, for a total value of $1,106,714.40. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 79,232 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,793,075.20. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Paychex news, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 8,954 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.60, for a total value of $1,106,714.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 79,232 shares in the company, valued at $9,793,075.20. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,670 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.53, for a total transaction of $1,514,445.10. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 55,745 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,663,199.85. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 45,673 shares of company stock worth $5,636,085 in the last three months. Company insiders own 11.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on PAYX shares. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Paychex from $126.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Paychex from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Paychex from $111.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and twelve have issued a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $130.77.

Paychex Stock Down 0.5 %

Paychex stock opened at $138.65 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $49.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.69, a PEG ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 1.00. 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, Inc. has a 12 month low of $106.27 and a 12 month high of $142.04. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $130.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $124.83.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 1st. The business services provider reported $1.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.02. Paychex had a net margin of 32.03% and a return on equity of 46.63%. The business had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.31 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.14 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 29th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 2.83%. 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.