Glenmede Trust Co. NA Sells 19,210 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Glenmede Trust Co. NA lowered its position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 7.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 249,325 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 19,210 shares during the quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA’s holdings in Paychex were worth $33,457,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of PAYX. Townsquare Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Paychex by 34.1% during the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 7,014 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $941,000 after purchasing an additional 1,783 shares in the last quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Paychex by 8.1% during the third quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 7,392 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $992,000 after acquiring an additional 556 shares in the last quarter. Avestar Capital LLC acquired a new position in Paychex in the third quarter valued at about $220,000. Prospector Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Paychex by 0.5% during the third quarter. Prospector Partners LLC now owns 36,877 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,949,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares during the period. Finally, Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 21.4% during the 3rd quarter. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd now owns 23,759 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,188,000 after purchasing an additional 4,184 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on PAYX. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Paychex from $118.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. UBS Group lifted their price target on Paychex from $125.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Paychex from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Citigroup lifted their target price on Paychex from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price target on Paychex from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $131.62.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $145.71 on Thursday. Paychex, Inc. has a 12-month low of $114.72 and a 12-month high of $150.71. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $140.87 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $130.48. The firm has a market cap of $52.44 billion, a PE ratio of 31.07, a PEG ratio of 3.99 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 (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted 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. Paychex had a net margin of 31.98% and a return on equity of 45.97%. The business had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.14 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 7th were given a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.69%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 83.58%.

Insider Activity at Paychex

In other news, 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 17,362 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,471,480.70. This represents a 42.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 26,428 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the vice president now owns 14,515 shares in the company, valued at $2,018,020.45. This represents a 64.55 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 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.

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.