Arete Wealth Advisors LLC Cuts Stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Arete Wealth Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 25.1% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,683 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 565 shares during the quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $226,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. CVA Family Office LLC increased its stake in shares of Paychex by 5.6% during the third quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 1,388 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $186,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the period. Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its position in shares of Paychex by 42.0% in the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 250 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Kanawha Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Kanawha Capital Management LLC now owns 4,283 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $575,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Baron Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Baron Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,628 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $487,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Daymark Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 0.8% during the second quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,847 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,167,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on PAYX. TD Cowen raised their price target on Paychex from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Citigroup boosted their target price on Paychex from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Paychex from $118.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Paychex currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $131.62.

Insider Activity at Paychex

In other news, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.35, for a total transaction of $1,852,685.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 17,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,471,480.70. This represents a 42.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 26,428 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 9th. The shares were 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 owns 14,515 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,018,020.45. This trade represents a 64.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 three months. Insiders own 11.40% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Trading Down 0.1 %

NASDAQ PAYX opened at $140.98 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $142.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $132.03. Paychex, Inc. has a one year low of $114.72 and a one year high of $150.71. 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 firm has a market cap of $50.74 billion, a PE ratio of 30.06, a P/E/G ratio of 3.88 and a beta of 0.99.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.02. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.97% and a net margin of 31.98%. The firm had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.31 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.14 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 7th were issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.78%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio 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.