Financial Advocates Investment Management Has $1.81 Million Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Financial Advocates Investment Management increased its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 9.1% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 13,448 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,119 shares during the quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management’s holdings in Paychex were worth $1,805,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in PAYX. Norden Group LLC acquired a new stake in Paychex during the 1st quarter valued at $3,255,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Paychex by 5.7% during the 1st quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 10,471 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,286,000 after purchasing an additional 569 shares during the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Paychex by 4.1% during the 1st quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 5,019 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $616,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Paychex by 12.7% during the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 481,155 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $55,308,000 after purchasing an additional 54,225 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in Paychex by 30.4% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 1,440,262 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $176,864,000 after purchasing an additional 335,579 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PAYX has been the subject of several research reports. Barclays raised their price target on Paychex from $118.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Citigroup increased their price objective on Paychex from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Paychex from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. UBS Group increased their price objective on Paychex from $125.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $130.77.

Paychex Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ PAYX opened at $139.33 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $136.13 and its 200 day moving average is $127.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $50.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.71, a PEG ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 1.38. Paychex, Inc. has a 52 week low of $106.27 and a 52 week high of $144.17.

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

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 7th 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 2.81%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 7th. Paychex’s payout ratio is 83.58%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 14,434 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.21, for a total transaction of $1,807,281.14. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 5,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $674,005.43. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.35, for a total value of $1,852,685.25. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 17,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,471,480.70. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 14,434 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.21, for a total value of $1,807,281.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,383 shares in the company, valued at approximately $674,005.43. This represents 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 68,608 shares of company stock valued at $9,384,512. 11.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.