First Horizon Advisors Inc. Boosts Stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 15.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 27,272 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,585 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $3,660,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PAYX. Capital World Investors grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 155.6% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,478,325 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $304,338,000 after acquiring an additional 1,508,681 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 19.5% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,356,262 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $279,351,000 after buying an additional 384,184 shares during the last quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 6.8% in the second quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 1,790,377 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $212,267,000 after purchasing an additional 113,856 shares in the last quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 7.2% in the second quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 1,703,913 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $202,016,000 after acquiring an additional 114,132 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Guinness Asset Management LTD increased its position in shares of Paychex by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 1,567,667 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $210,282,000 after purchasing an additional 68,627 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on PAYX. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price 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. Citigroup boosted their target price on Paychex from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Paychex from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Paychex from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Paychex presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $131.62.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paychex

In related news, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 14,731 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.18, for a total transaction of $2,050,260.58. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,515 shares in the company, valued at $2,020,197.70. The trade was a 50.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, 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 owns 17,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,471,480.70. The trade was a 42.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 54,174 shares of company stock valued at $7,577,231 in the last three months. Company insiders own 11.40% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $141.83 on Thursday. Paychex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $114.72 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 50 day simple moving average of $139.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $129.65. The company has a market capitalization of $51.04 billion, a PE ratio of 30.24, a P/E/G ratio of 3.87 and a beta of 0.99.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 1st. The business services provider reported $1.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.14 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.76%. Paychex’s payout ratio is 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.