Darwin Wealth Management LLC Buys New Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund purchased 634 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $85,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Czech National Bank increased its position in shares of Paychex by 8.3% during 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 last quarter. BDF Gestion bought a new position in shares of Paychex during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,796,000. PGGM Investments boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 57.7% during 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 during the period. DNB Asset Management AS boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 6.6% during the 2nd quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 64,580 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,657,000 after acquiring an additional 4,001 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James & Associates boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 27.4% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 988,417 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $132,636,000 after acquiring an additional 212,700 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on PAYX shares. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Paychex from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Paychex from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Citigroup boosted their price target on Paychex from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Paychex presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $131.62.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of PAYX opened at $141.83 on Thursday. Paychex, Inc. has a 12-month low of $114.72 and a 12-month high of $150.71. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $139.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $129.65. 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 PE ratio of 30.24, a PEG ratio of 3.87 and a beta of 0.99.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released 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. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.97% and a net margin of 31.98%. The firm had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.14 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 7th will be given a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.76%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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 that occurred on Wednesday, October 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.03, for a total value of $3,674,284.84. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 14,515 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,018,020.45. This represents a 64.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.35, for a total value of $1,852,685.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now 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. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 54,174 shares of company stock worth $7,577,231. Insiders own 11.40% of the company’s stock.

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.