Grimes & Company Inc. Sells 26,797 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Grimes & Company Inc. reduced its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 13.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 171,880 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 26,797 shares during the period. Grimes & Company Inc.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $23,065,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Paychex by 30.8% during the first quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,490 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $429,000 after acquiring an additional 822 shares in the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in Paychex by 4.1% during the first quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 4,919 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $604,000 after acquiring an additional 196 shares in the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management lifted its holdings in Paychex by 37.6% during the first quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 2,418 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $297,000 after acquiring an additional 661 shares in the last quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in Paychex by 15.4% during the first quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 1,348 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $166,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Paychex by 4.6% during the first quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 24,072 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,956,000 after acquiring an additional 1,051 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Paychex news, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 9,615 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.60, for a total transaction of $1,207,644.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 5,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $676,104.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Paychex news, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 9,615 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.60, for a total transaction of $1,207,644.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 5,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $676,104.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 14,731 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.18, for a total value of $2,050,260.58. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,515 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,020,197.70. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 78,223 shares of company stock valued at $10,592,156 over the last 90 days. 11.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PAYX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Paychex from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Paychex from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Citigroup lifted their price target on Paychex from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on Paychex from $126.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $130.77.

Paychex Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PAYX traded down $0.37 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $141.06. The company had a trading volume of 39,251 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,786,162. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $134.36 and its 200 day moving average price is $126.60. The stock has a market cap of $50.78 billion, a PE ratio of 30.28, a P/E/G ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 1.00. Paychex, Inc. has a 1-year low of $106.27 and a 1-year high of $144.17.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $1.32 billion for 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 quarterly revenue was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.14 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 7th will be given a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.78%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 83.94%.

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.