Verity Asset Management Inc. Decreases Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Verity Asset Management Inc. lessened its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 10.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,266 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 392 shares during the quarter. Verity Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $447,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Paychex by 286.0% during the second quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 220 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC boosted its position in Paychex by 227.6% during the second quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 249 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 173 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new position in Paychex during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Paychex in the first quarter worth $31,000. Finally, ESL Trust Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Paychex in the first quarter valued at about $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Paychex from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. TD Cowen increased their target price on Paychex from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Paychex has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $130.77.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 14,731 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Paychex news, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 14,731 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,020,197.70. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 26,428 shares of the firm’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 completion of 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 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 54,174 shares of company stock worth $7,577,231. Company insiders own 11.40% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of PAYX opened at $146.56 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $137.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $127.93. Paychex, Inc. has a 1 year low of $112.34 and a 1 year high of $149.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 1.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.84 and a beta of 0.99.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 1st. The business services provider reported $1.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.14 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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 2.67%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.