Physicians Financial Services Inc. Sells 300 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Physicians Financial Services Inc. lessened its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 7.1% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,952 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 300 shares during the period. Physicians Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $530,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in PAYX. Czech National Bank lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 8.3% in the 2nd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 61,049 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,238,000 after purchasing an additional 4,703 shares during the period. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in Paychex by 4.9% in the first quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 10,250 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,259,000 after buying an additional 477 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. boosted its position in Paychex by 5.8% during the first 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. BDF Gestion acquired a new stake in Paychex during the 2nd quarter worth about $2,796,000. Finally, PGGM Investments raised its position in shares of Paychex by 57.7% in the 2nd quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 21,703 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,573,000 after acquiring an additional 7,943 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Paychex from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report 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. Stifel Nicolaus boosted 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. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on Paychex from $125.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Paychex presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $130.77.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Paychex news, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 14,731 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.18, for a total value of $2,050,260.58. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 14,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,020,197.70. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 14,731 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.18, for a total transaction of $2,050,260.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 14,515 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,020,197.70. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 26,428 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,515 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,018,020.45. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 54,174 shares of company stock valued at $7,577,231. 11.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Paychex Stock Up 0.9 %

Paychex stock traded up $1.32 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $147.87. 125,624 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,780,785. Paychex, Inc. has a 52-week low of $113.70 and a 52-week high of $149.26. 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 business’s 50-day moving average price is $137.06 and its 200-day moving average price is $127.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $53.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.84 and a beta of 0.99.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its 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 for 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 company’s revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.14 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 7th. Paychex’s payout ratio is 83.58%.

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.