Balentine LLC Takes $467,000 Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Balentine LLC purchased a new stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 3,482 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $467,000.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of PAYX. CVA Family Office LLC increased its position in shares of Paychex by 5.6% in the third quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 1,388 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $186,000 after buying an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC grew its stake in Paychex by 42.0% in 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 period. Kanawha Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Paychex by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Kanawha Capital Management LLC now owns 4,283 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $575,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in Paychex by 0.8% during the second quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,847 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,167,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares during the period. Finally, Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI lifted its holdings in Paychex by 1.2% during the second quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI now owns 7,362 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $873,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 14,731 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,020,197.70. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 26,428 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.03, for a total value of $3,674,284.84. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,515 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,018,020.45. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 14,731 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,020,197.70. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 54,174 shares of company stock valued at $7,577,231 in the last quarter. Insiders own 11.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Paychex from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Paychex from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Paychex from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Paychex from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Paychex from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $130.77.

Paychex Stock Up 0.1 %

NASDAQ PAYX opened at $139.76 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $136.69 and its 200-day simple moving average is $127.78. 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 firm has a market cap of $50.30 billion, a PE ratio of 29.80, a P/E/G ratio of 3.82 and a beta of 0.99. Paychex, Inc. has a 52 week low of $109.98 and a 52 week high of $144.17.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 1st. The business services provider reported $1.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 31.98% and a return on equity of 45.97%. Paychex’s revenue was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.14 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 of this dividend is Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.80%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio 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.