Aureus Asset Management LLC Trims Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Aureus Asset Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 22.4% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 2,938 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 850 shares during the quarter. Aureus Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $394,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of PAYX. Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Paychex by 286.0% during 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 during the period. ORG Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Paychex by 227.6% during the 2nd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 249 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 173 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new position in shares of Paychex during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. American National Bank grew its holdings in shares of Paychex by 166.7% during the 2nd quarter. American National Bank now owns 288 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the period. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC grew its holdings in shares of Paychex by 42.0% during the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 250 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Paychex

In other Paychex news, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 26,428 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the vice president now owns 14,515 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,018,020.45. This represents a 64.55 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was 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 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 54,174 shares of company stock worth $7,577,231 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 11.40% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Trading Up 0.4 %

NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $146.27 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 1.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.99. Paychex, Inc. has a one year low of $114.72 and a one year high of $150.71. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $141.39 and a 200-day moving average price of $130.83.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 1st. The business services provider reported $1.16 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.14 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.98 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 7th were paid a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.68%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 83.58%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PAYX has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Paychex from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Paychex from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Barclays boosted their price target on Paychex from $118.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. UBS Group upped their price objective on Paychex from $125.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note 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 data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $131.62.

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.