Bard Financial Services Inc. Reduces Stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Bard Financial Services Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 75.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,895 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 5,675 shares during the quarter. Bard Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $254,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in Paychex by 12.8% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 20,878,283 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,563,853,000 after purchasing an additional 2,373,894 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its stake in Paychex by 155.6% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,478,325 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $304,338,000 after buying an additional 1,508,681 shares in the last quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Paychex in the first quarter valued at approximately $146,617,000. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 57.2% in the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 2,179,930 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $267,695,000 after acquiring an additional 793,468 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FIL Ltd increased its position in shares of Paychex by 32.4% during the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 2,548,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $303,492,000 after purchasing an additional 623,000 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 8,954 shares of the 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 transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 9,615 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.60, for a total transaction of $1,207,644.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 5,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $676,104.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 8,954 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 79,232 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,793,075.20. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 45,673 shares of company stock worth $5,636,085. Corporate insiders own 11.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Paychex from $111.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Paychex from $118.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Paychex from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their target price on Paychex from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $130.77.

Paychex Price Performance

PAYX traded down $0.71 on Friday, reaching $138.65. The company had a trading volume of 1,776,714 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,834,330. Paychex, Inc. has a one year low of $106.27 and a one year high of $142.04. The company has a market capitalization of $49.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.69, a PEG ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a fifty day moving average of $130.45 and a 200-day moving average of $124.85. 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 (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 1st. The business services provider reported $1.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by $0.02. Paychex had a net margin of 32.03% and a return on equity of 46.63%. The company had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.14 EPS. Paychex’s revenue was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate 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. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 8th were paid a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 8th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 83.94%.

About Paychex

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.