GHP Investment Advisors Inc. Raises Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

GHP Investment Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,182 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 626 shares during the period. GHP Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $1,769,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PAYX. Covenant Partners LLC raised its stake in Paychex by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Covenant Partners LLC now owns 12,376 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,661,000 after acquiring an additional 433 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in Paychex by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 86,565 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $11,616,000 after acquiring an additional 4,521 shares during the last quarter. PFG Investments LLC raised its stake in Paychex by 19.0% in the 3rd quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 6,584 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $884,000 after acquiring an additional 1,049 shares during the last quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors raised its stake in Paychex by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 34,186 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,587,000 after acquiring an additional 2,009 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Forsta AP Fonden raised its stake in Paychex by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 132,300 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $17,753,000 after acquiring an additional 8,700 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Paychex from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Barclays raised their target price on Paychex from $118.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Paychex from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Paychex from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Paychex from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $130.77.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 sale, the vice president now directly 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 hyperlink. In related 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 sale, the vice president now directly 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 hyperlink. Also, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 14,434 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.21, for a total value of $1,807,281.14. Following the transaction, the director now owns 5,383 shares in the company, valued at approximately $674,005.43. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 68,608 shares of company stock worth $9,384,512. Insiders own 11.50% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Price Performance

NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $140.33 on Monday. Paychex, Inc. has a 52 week low of $106.27 and a 52 week high of $144.17. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $50.51 billion, a PE ratio of 30.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.88 and a beta of 1.00. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $134.98 and its 200-day moving average price is $126.84.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 1st. The business services provider reported $1.16 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 period last year, the firm earned $1.14 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 7th will be issued a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.79%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 7th. Paychex’s payout ratio is 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.