Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Shares Sold by Commerce Bank

Commerce Bank cut its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 96,189 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 4,511 shares during the period. Commerce Bank’s holdings in Paychex were worth $12,908,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Czech National Bank increased its stake in Paychex by 8.3% during the second quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 61,049 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,238,000 after purchasing an additional 4,703 shares during the last quarter. BDF Gestion bought a new stake in Paychex during the second quarter valued at $2,796,000. PGGM Investments increased its stake in Paychex by 57.7% during the second quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 21,703 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,573,000 after purchasing an additional 7,943 shares during the last quarter. DNB Asset Management AS increased its stake in Paychex by 6.6% during the second quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 64,580 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,657,000 after purchasing an additional 4,001 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates increased its stake in Paychex by 27.4% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 988,417 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $132,636,000 after purchasing an additional 212,700 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on PAYX shares. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Paychex from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Paychex from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $131.62.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of PAYX opened at $141.83 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $139.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $129.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.04 billion, a PE ratio of 30.24, a P/E/G ratio of 3.93 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. Paychex, Inc. has a 52-week low of $114.72 and a 52-week high of $150.71.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.14 EPS. Paychex’s revenue was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 7th will be issued a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.76%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 7th. Paychex’s payout ratio is 83.58%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paychex

In other news, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 17,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,471,480.70. This represents a 42.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 26,428 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.03, for a total transaction of $3,674,284.84. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,018,020.45. This trade represents a 64.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 54,174 shares of company stock valued at $7,577,231. 11.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.