Security Financial Services INC. Has $245,000 Stock Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Security Financial Services INC. boosted its position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 11.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,999 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 203 shares during the quarter. Security Financial Services INC.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $245,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ethos Financial Group LLC raised its stake in Paychex by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC now owns 1,952 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $232,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the period. Griffin Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Paychex by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Griffin Asset Management Inc. now owns 18,225 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,171,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the period. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Paychex by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,908 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $227,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares during the period. Rogco LP raised its position in shares of Paychex by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Rogco LP now owns 8,469 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,009,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares during the period. Finally, Dohj LLC raised its position in shares of Paychex by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Dohj LLC now owns 3,242 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $386,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on PAYX. Bank of America raised their price target on Paychex from $108.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “in-line” rating and set a $118.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $130.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research report on Tuesday, May 21st. Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $115.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their price objective on Paychex from $122.00 to $121.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $123.00.

Paychex Stock Up 0.0 %

PAYX stock traded up $0.05 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $126.01. The company had a trading volume of 38,913 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,762,000. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.24. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $122.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $122.07. The company has a market capitalization of $45.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.44, a PEG ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 0.96. Paychex, Inc. has a 52 week low of $106.27 and a 52 week high of $129.70.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 2nd. The business services provider reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.01. Paychex had a return on equity of 46.14% and a net margin of 31.86%. The firm had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.46 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.29 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 10th were given a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.11%. This is a boost from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 9th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 85.40%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 19,709 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.55, for a total value of $2,454,755.95. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 5,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $670,452.65. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 11.50% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Profile

Paychex, Inc provides integrated human capital management solutions for human resources (HR), payroll, benefits, 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.