BLB&B Advisors LLC Sells 700 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

BLB&B Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 13,082 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 700 shares during the period. BLB&B Advisors LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $1,755,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in 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 during the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Paychex by 227.6% in the second quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 249 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. ESL Trust Services LLC acquired a new stake in Paychex during the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Paychex during the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, American National Bank boosted its stake in Paychex by 166.7% in the 2nd quarter. American National Bank now owns 288 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Paychex

In other Paychex news, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 26,428 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $2,018,020.45. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 26,428 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,018,020.45. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 14,731 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.18, for a total value of $2,050,260.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,515 shares in the company, valued at $2,020,197.70. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 78,223 shares of company stock worth $10,592,156 over the last three months. Company insiders own 11.40% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Stock Performance

NASDAQ PAYX opened at $141.34 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $134.03 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $126.50. The stock has a market cap of $50.87 billion, a PE ratio of 30.14, a PEG ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 1.00. 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 fifty-two week low of $106.27 and a fifty-two week high of $144.17.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 1st. The business services provider reported $1.16 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.14 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.77%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is 83.58%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on PAYX. Morgan Stanley lifted 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 boosted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Paychex from $111.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Paychex from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. 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.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $130.77.

Paychex 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.