EP Wealth Advisors LLC Purchases 610 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

EP Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 1.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 32,292 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 610 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $3,965,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Paychex by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,541,306 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,750,472,000 after buying an additional 123,268 shares during the period. Capital International Investors increased its position in Paychex by 9.0% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 18,504,389 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,204,115,000 after buying an additional 1,523,520 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Paychex by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,687,859 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $320,151,000 after purchasing an additional 56,793 shares during the period. FIL Ltd increased its position in shares of Paychex by 32.4% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 2,548,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $303,492,000 after purchasing an additional 623,000 shares during the period. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc increased its position in shares of Paychex by 57.2% in the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 2,179,930 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $267,695,000 after purchasing an additional 793,468 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 19,709 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.55, for a total value of $2,454,755.95. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $670,452.65. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 19,709 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.55, for a total value of $2,454,755.95. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $670,452.65. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 8,954 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.60, for a total value of $1,106,714.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 79,232 shares in the company, valued at $9,793,075.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 142,823 shares of company stock valued at $16,977,648. 11.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Paychex Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of PAYX stock traded up $1.77 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $125.75. 1,339,337 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,858,625. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $121.91 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $121.76. Paychex, Inc. has a 1-year low of $106.27 and a 1-year high of $129.70. The company has a market cap of $45.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 26th. The business services provider reported $1.12 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.02. Paychex had a return on equity of 46.63% and a net margin of 32.03%. The firm had revenue of $1.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.29 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.97 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 28th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 8th 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 3.12%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 8th. Paychex’s payout ratio is 83.94%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on PAYX shares. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Paychex from $125.00 to $122.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Bank of America raised their price target on Paychex from $111.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $115.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on Paychex from $126.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their target price on Paychex from $122.00 to $121.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $122.46.

Paychex Profile

Paychex, Inc provides integrated human capital management solutions for human resources (HR), payroll, benefits, 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.