3,985 Shares in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Purchased by Prospera Private Wealth LLC

Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 3,985 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $535,000.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital World Investors boosted its position in Paychex by 155.6% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,478,325 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $304,338,000 after buying an additional 1,508,681 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 19.5% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,356,262 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $279,351,000 after purchasing an additional 384,184 shares during the period. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 6.8% in the 2nd quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 1,790,377 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $212,267,000 after purchasing an additional 113,856 shares during the period. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 7.2% in the 2nd quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 1,703,913 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $202,016,000 after purchasing an additional 114,132 shares during the period. Finally, Guinness Asset Management LTD lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 1,567,667 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $210,282,000 after purchasing an additional 68,627 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on PAYX shares. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Paychex from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Paychex from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $131.62.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PAYX opened at $141.83 on Thursday. The company's fifty day moving average price is $139.80 and its 200 day moving average price is $129.65. Paychex, Inc. has a 1 year low of $114.72 and a 1 year high of $150.71. The company has a market capitalization of $51.04 billion, a PE ratio of 30.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.93 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 1.38.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 1st. The business services provider reported $1.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.14 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 31.98% and a return on equity of 45.97%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.14 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 7th. Paychex's payout ratio is 83.58%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paychex

In other Paychex news, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 26,428 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.03, for a total transaction of $3,674,284.84. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,515 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,018,020.45. This trade represents a 64.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.35, for a total transaction of $1,852,685.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 17,362 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,471,480.70. This trade represents a 42.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 54,174 shares of company stock valued at $7,577,231 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 11.40% of the company's stock.

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.

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