First Long Island Investors LLC Takes Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

First Long Island Investors LLC bought a new stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 70,106 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $9,408,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Paychex by 286.0% in the 2nd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 220 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Paychex by 227.6% in the 2nd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 249 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. ESL Trust Services LLC acquired a new position in Paychex during the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its position in 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 purchasing an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American National Bank increased its position in 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 purchasing an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on PAYX shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Paychex from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Paychex from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective 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. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Paychex has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $130.77.

Paychex Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PAYX traded down $2.27 during trading on Friday, reaching $143.57. The stock had a trading volume of 304,234 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,785,497. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $139.03 and its 200 day moving average is $128.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 1.38. Paychex, Inc. has a 52 week low of $114.72 and a 52 week high of $150.71. The stock has a market cap of $51.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.88, a P/E/G ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 0.99.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 1st. The business services provider reported $1.16 EPS 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.14 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities 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. Investors of record on Thursday, November 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 83.58%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Paychex news, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 17,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,471,480.70. This trade represents a 42.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 26,428 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 14,515 shares in the company, 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. Insiders have sold a total of 54,174 shares of company stock valued at $7,577,231 over the last ninety days. 11.40% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.