Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Purchases 4,617 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 57.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 12,637 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 4,617 shares during the quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in Paychex were worth $1,696,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in PAYX. Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Paychex by 286.0% during the 2nd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 220 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares during the period. ORG Partners LLC increased its stake in Paychex by 227.6% in the second quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 249 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 173 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new stake in Paychex in the second quarter valued at about $30,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Paychex in the first quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, ESL Trust Services LLC bought a new stake in Paychex in the first quarter valued at about $31,000. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Paychex

In related news, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 26,428 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.03, for a total value of $3,674,284.84. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,515 shares in the company, valued at $2,018,020.45. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.35, for a total value of $1,852,685.25. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 17,362 shares in the company, valued at $2,471,480.70. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 26,428 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,515 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,018,020.45. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 54,174 shares of company stock worth $7,577,231. Corporate insiders own 11.40% of the company's stock.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of PAYX stock traded up $2.01 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $148.57. 2,022,161 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,493,606. Paychex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $113.70 and a fifty-two week high of $149.26. The stock's fifty day moving average is $137.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $128.30. The company has a market cap of $53.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.68, a P/E/G ratio of 4.08 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 1.38.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last announced its 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. Paychex had a net margin of 31.98% and a return on equity of 45.97%. The company had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.14 earnings per share. Paychex's quarterly revenue was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 7th will be given a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.64%. Paychex's payout ratio is 83.58%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Paychex from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price 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. UBS Group boosted 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, October 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $130.77.

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.