Bourne Lent Asset Management Inc. Purchases 850 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Bourne Lent Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 59,432 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 850 shares during the quarter. Paychex accounts for approximately 3.0% of Bourne Lent Asset Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 10th largest position. Bourne Lent Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $7,975,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 286.0% in the 2nd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 220 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 227.6% in the 2nd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 249 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new position in Paychex during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Paychex during the 1st quarter worth $31,000. Finally, ESL Trust Services LLC bought a new stake in Paychex in the first quarter valued at $31,000. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Paychex

In other news, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 9,615 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.60, for a total transaction of $1,207,644.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 5,383 shares in the company, valued at $676,104.80. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 9,615 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.60, for a total value of $1,207,644.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 5,383 shares in the company, valued at approximately $676,104.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 14,731 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 14,515 shares in the company, valued at $2,020,197.70. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 74,162 shares of company stock valued at $9,846,185. Corporate insiders own 11.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on PAYX. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Paychex from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Paychex from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $130.77.

Paychex Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ PAYX opened at $142.30 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $132.28 and a 200-day simple moving average of $125.78. 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 company has a market cap of $51.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.47, a P/E/G ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 1.00. Paychex, Inc. has a 12 month low of $106.27 and a 12 month high of $144.17.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 1st. The business services provider reported $1.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.02. Paychex had a net margin of 31.98% and a return on equity of 45.97%. The business had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.14 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.98 EPS for the current 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 issued 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 2.75%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is 83.94%.

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.