Buck Wealth Strategies LLC Decreases Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Buck Wealth Strategies LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 34.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,345 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,764 shares during the quarter. Buck Wealth Strategies LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $449,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in PAYX. Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Paychex by 286.0% in the 2nd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 220 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares during the period. ORG Partners LLC raised its position in Paychex by 227.6% in the 2nd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 249 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in Paychex in the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. ESL Trust Services LLC purchased a new stake in Paychex in the 1st quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, American National Bank raised its position in Paychex by 166.7% in the 2nd quarter. American National Bank now owns 288 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of the business’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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 17,362 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Paychex news, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 17,362 shares in the company, valued at $2,471,480.70. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 26,428 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.03, for a total transaction of $3,674,284.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 14,515 shares in the company, valued at $2,018,020.45. The trade was 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 54,174 shares of company stock worth $7,577,231. 11.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on PAYX. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Paychex from $118.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $130.77.

Paychex Stock Down 0.5 %

PAYX opened at $148.00 on Wednesday. Paychex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $113.87 and a fifty-two week high of $150.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 1.38. The company has a fifty day moving average of $138.10 and a two-hundred day moving average of $128.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $53.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.56, a PEG ratio of 4.09 and a beta of 0.99.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released 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. Paychex had a net margin of 31.98% and a return on equity of 45.97%. The company had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.31 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.14 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 7th will be given a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.65%. Paychex’s payout ratio is presently 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.