Grimes & Company Inc. Sells 26,797 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Grimes & Company Inc. lessened its position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 13.5% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 171,880 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 26,797 shares during the period. Grimes & Company Inc.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $23,065,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Czech National Bank boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 8.3% in the second quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 61,049 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,238,000 after buying an additional 4,703 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 85.1% in the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,259,393 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $154,263,000 after buying an additional 579,136 shares during the period. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 4.9% in the first quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 10,250 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,259,000 after buying an additional 477 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 5.8% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 110,113 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $13,522,000 after buying an additional 6,033 shares during the period. Finally, BDF Gestion bought a new stake in shares of Paychex in the second quarter valued at approximately $2,796,000. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paychex

In other Paychex news, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 14,434 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.21, for a total transaction of $1,807,281.14. Following the sale, the director now owns 5,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $674,005.43. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 14,434 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.21, for a total transaction of $1,807,281.14. Following the transaction, the director now owns 5,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $674,005.43. This represents 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, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 78,223 shares of company stock valued at $10,592,156. 11.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on PAYX shares. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Paychex from $126.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Paychex from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Barclays upped their target price on Paychex from $118.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Citigroup upped their target price on Paychex from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Paychex from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Paychex has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $130.77.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PAYX traded down $0.37 during trading on Thursday, hitting $141.06. 39,251 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,786,162. The business’s 50 day moving average is $134.36 and its 200-day moving average is $126.60. The company has a market capitalization of $50.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 1.00. 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, Inc. has a 1-year low of $106.27 and a 1-year high of $144.17.

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

Paychex Announces Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $0.98 per share. 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 2.78%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 83.94%.

Paychex Profile

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.