Advisors Asset Management Inc. Sells 8,669 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Advisors Asset Management Inc. lowered its position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 7.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 110,903 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 8,669 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Paychex were worth $14,882,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MWA Asset Management boosted its holdings in Paychex by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. MWA Asset Management now owns 3,931 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $528,000 after purchasing an additional 147 shares during the period. Strategy Asset Managers LLC increased its position in shares of Paychex by 9.2% in the third quarter. Strategy Asset Managers LLC now owns 2,997 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $402,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares during the period. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Paychex in the third quarter worth $535,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its stake in Paychex by 2.9% in the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 694,922 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $93,252,000 after purchasing an additional 19,431 shares in the last quarter. Finally, B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new stake in Paychex during the third quarter worth about $3,772,000. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Paychex Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ PAYX traded up $1.17 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $141.83. The company had a trading volume of 1,348,724 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,784,786. Paychex, Inc. has a 12 month low of $114.72 and a 12 month high of $150.71. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The stock has a market cap of $51.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.99, a PEG ratio of 3.93 and a beta of 0.99. The company's fifty day moving average price is $139.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $129.57.

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

Paychex Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 14,731 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.18, for a total transaction of $2,050,260.58. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,515 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,020,197.70. The trade was a 50.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of the firm's 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 17,362 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,471,480.70. The trade was a 42.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 54,174 shares of company stock worth $7,577,231 in the last three months. Company insiders own 11.40% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PAYX has been the subject of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $118.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Paychex from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Citigroup upped their price objective on Paychex from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Paychex from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $131.62.

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.