Raleigh Capital Management Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Raleigh Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 1,753.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,654 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,349 shares during the period. Raleigh Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $759,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Czech National Bank raised its stake in Paychex by 8.3% in the 2nd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 61,049 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,238,000 after purchasing an additional 4,703 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in Paychex by 85.1% during the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,259,393 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $154,263,000 after acquiring an additional 579,136 shares during the last quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC raised its holdings in Paychex by 4.9% in the 1st quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 10,250 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,259,000 after acquiring an additional 477 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. raised its holdings in Paychex by 5.8% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 110,113 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $13,522,000 after acquiring an additional 6,033 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BDF Gestion acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex during the second quarter worth $2,796,000. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Paychex Trading Down 0.3 %

NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $141.09 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $133.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $126.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.21, a P/E/G ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 1.00. 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, Inc. has a 12-month low of $106.27 and a 12-month high of $144.17.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 1st. The business services provider reported $1.16 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.97% and a net margin of 31.98%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.14 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.98 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 7th will be paid a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.78%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 83.94%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 8,954 shares of the business’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 transaction of $1,106,714.40. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 79,232 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,793,075.20. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 14,434 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.21, for a total value of $1,807,281.14. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 5,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $674,005.43. This trade 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 this link. Also, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 8,954 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 79,232 shares in the company, valued at $9,793,075.20. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 87,177 shares of company stock worth $11,698,870 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 11.50% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Paychex from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report 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 report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on Paychex from $126.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $130.77.

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.