Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. Sells 5,463 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. decreased its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 16.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 27,394 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 5,463 shares during the period. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $3,676,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in PAYX. CWM LLC raised its position in shares of Paychex by 6.8% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 16,677 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,977,000 after acquiring an additional 1,069 shares during the last quarter. Symmetry Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Paychex by 6.2% during the 2nd quarter. Symmetry Partners LLC now owns 2,896 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $343,000 after acquiring an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA raised its position in shares of Paychex by 14.9% during the 2nd quarter. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA now owns 2,814 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $334,000 after acquiring an additional 365 shares during the last quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Paychex by 34.8% during the 2nd quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,616 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,021,000 after acquiring an additional 2,224 shares during the last quarter. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Paychex by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 58,077 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,886,000 after acquiring an additional 1,308 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Paychex

In related news, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 26,428 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now directly 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 document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.35, for a total transaction of $1,852,685.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 17,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,471,480.70. This trade represents a 42.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 54,174 shares of company stock worth $7,577,231 in the last three months. Insiders own 11.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Paychex from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Paychex from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the company a “hold” 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $131.62.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PAYX opened at $142.40 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $51.25 billion, a PE ratio of 30.36, a PEG ratio of 3.97 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. Paychex, Inc. has a 1-year low of $114.72 and a 1-year high of $150.71. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $142.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $131.27.

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

Paychex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 7th were paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.75%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is 83.58%.

Paychex Company 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.