Meridian Wealth Management LLC Takes Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Meridian Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 24,973 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,351,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions 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 lifted its holdings in Paychex by 227.6% in the 2nd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 249 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new position in Paychex in the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. American National Bank lifted its holdings in Paychex by 166.7% in the 2nd quarter. American National Bank now owns 288 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC lifted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Barclays raised their price objective on Paychex from $118.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. UBS Group lifted their price target on Paychex from $125.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Paychex from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $131.62.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paychex

In other news, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 26,428 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.03, for a total value of $3,674,284.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 14,515 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,018,020.45. This trade represents a 64.55 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.35, for a total value of $1,852,685.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 17,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,471,480.70. The trade was a 42.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 54,174 shares of company stock valued at $7,577,231 in the last three months. 11.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Paychex Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $144.46 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $51.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.80, a PEG ratio of 3.96 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $140.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $129.92. Paychex, Inc. has a 12-month low of $114.72 and a 12-month high of $150.71.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released 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 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 revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.14 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.98 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The company 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. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 7th. 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.