Bar Harbor Wealth Management Sells 137 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Bar Harbor Wealth Management lowered its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 7.1% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,787 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 137 shares during the quarter. Bar Harbor Wealth Management’s holdings in Paychex were worth $240,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in PAYX. Ellsworth Advisors LLC grew its position in Paychex by 3.6% in the third quarter. Ellsworth Advisors LLC now owns 42,750 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,737,000 after acquiring an additional 1,476 shares in the last quarter. Vista Investment Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Vista Investment Partners LLC now owns 26,754 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,590,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. Drake & Associates LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 14.1% in the 3rd quarter. Drake & Associates LLC now owns 4,502 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $604,000 after purchasing an additional 555 shares during the period. Secure Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Paychex during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $433,000. Finally, Bleakley Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Paychex by 19.1% during the 3rd quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 8,638 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,159,000 after buying an additional 1,384 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Paychex

In related news, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of the firm’s 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 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 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Paychex news, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of the 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 directly owns 17,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,471,480.70. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 8,954 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.60, for a total transaction of $1,106,714.40. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 79,232 shares in the company, valued at $9,793,075.20. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 87,177 shares of company stock valued at $11,698,870. Corporate insiders own 11.40% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Stock Performance

PAYX stock opened at $141.53 on Friday. Paychex, Inc. has a 1-year low of $106.27 and a 1-year high of $144.17. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $133.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $126.15. The company has a market capitalization of $50.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.18, a PEG ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 1.38.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 1st. The business services provider reported $1.16 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.02. Paychex had a net margin of 31.98% and a return on equity of 45.97%. The business had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.14 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The business 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 dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.77%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 83.58%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PAYX has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Paychex from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Citigroup increased their price target on Paychex from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on Paychex from $125.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Paychex currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $130.77.

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.