M&T Bank Corp Grows Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

M&T Bank Corp raised its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 0.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 125,817 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp’s holdings in Paychex were worth $16,884,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Paychex by 286.0% in the 2nd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 220 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Paychex by 227.6% during the 2nd 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 last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new position in shares of Paychex during the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. American National Bank increased its stake in shares of Paychex by 166.7% during the 2nd quarter. American National Bank now owns 288 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its stake in shares of Paychex by 42.0% during the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 250 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.35, for a total transaction 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 trade represents a 42.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 14,731 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.18, for a total value of $2,050,260.58. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 14,515 shares in the company, valued at $2,020,197.70. This trade represents a 50.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 54,174 shares of company stock worth $7,577,231. 11.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on PAYX shares. 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 research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Paychex from $118.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Citigroup upped their price objective 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. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased 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. Two investment 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 has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $131.62.

Paychex Stock Up 1.0 %

NASDAQ PAYX opened at $142.39 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $51.25 billion, a PE ratio of 30.36, a P/E/G ratio of 3.92 and a beta of 0.99. Paychex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $114.72 and a fifty-two week high of $150.71. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $142.58 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $131.57. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 1st. The business services provider reported $1.16 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.31 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.97% and a net margin of 31.98%. The business’s revenue was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.14 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 7th were paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.