Caprock Group LLC Sells 1,229 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Caprock Group LLC decreased its holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 11.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,785 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,229 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $1,313,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Czech National Bank grew its position in shares of Paychex by 8.3% in the second quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 61,049 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,238,000 after purchasing an additional 4,703 shares during the last quarter. BDF Gestion acquired a new position in shares of Paychex in the second quarter valued at approximately $2,796,000. PGGM Investments grew its position in shares of Paychex by 57.7% in the second quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 21,703 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,573,000 after purchasing an additional 7,943 shares during the last quarter. DNB Asset Management AS grew its position in shares of Paychex by 6.6% in the second quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 64,580 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,657,000 after purchasing an additional 4,001 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates grew its position in shares of Paychex by 27.4% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 988,417 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $132,636,000 after purchasing an additional 212,700 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. TD Cowen upped their target price on Paychex from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Paychex from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. UBS Group increased their price target on Paychex from $125.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. 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, Paychex currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $131.62.

Paychex Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of PAYX stock opened at $141.83 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $139.80 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $129.65. The company has a market cap of $51.04 billion, a PE ratio of 30.24, a P/E/G ratio of 3.93 and a beta of 0.99. Paychex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $114.72 and a fifty-two week 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.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 1st. The business services provider reported $1.16 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.14 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 7th will be given a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.76%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 83.58%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.35, for a total value of $1,852,685.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 17,362 shares in the company, valued at $2,471,480.70. This trade represents a 42.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 26,428 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,018,020.45. This represents a 64.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 54,174 shares of company stock valued at $7,577,231 in the last three months. Insiders own 11.40% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Company 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.