Prospector Partners LLC Acquires 182 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Prospector Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 36,877 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 182 shares during the quarter. Prospector Partners LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $4,949,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Paychex by 3.8% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 9,524,870 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,278,142,000 after purchasing an additional 345,682 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 19.5% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,356,262 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $279,351,000 after purchasing an additional 384,184 shares in the last quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Paychex by 6.8% in the 2nd quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 1,790,377 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $212,267,000 after acquiring an additional 113,856 shares in the last quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. increased its position in shares of Paychex by 7.2% during the 2nd quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 1,703,913 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $202,016,000 after purchasing an additional 114,132 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Guinness Asset Management LTD increased its holdings in Paychex by 4.6% during the third quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 1,567,667 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $210,282,000 after buying an additional 68,627 shares during the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Paychex Price Performance

NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $145.26 on Tuesday. Paychex, Inc. has a 52-week low of $114.72 and a 52-week high of $150.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.97, a P/E/G ratio of 3.97 and a beta of 0.99. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average of $140.38 and a 200 day moving average of $130.21.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued 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 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%. The company’s revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.14 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.70%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 83.58%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Citigroup upped their price objective on Paychex from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $118.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada lifted 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, UBS Group boosted their target price on Paychex from $125.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $131.62.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 17,362 shares in the company, valued at $2,471,480.70. This represents a 42.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 26,428 shares of the 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,018,020.45. The trade was a 64.55 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 54,174 shares of company stock worth $7,577,231 in the last 90 days. 11.40% of the stock is owned by company 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.