Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Shares Acquired by BKM Wealth Management LLC

BKM Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 13.3% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 11,696 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,377 shares during the period. BKM Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $1,436,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of PAYX. Synovus Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 11,603 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,338,000 after buying an additional 155 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia raised its holdings in Paychex by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 72,812 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $8,397,000 after purchasing an additional 3,803 shares during the period. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Paychex by 159.8% in the 3rd quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 173,951 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $20,062,000 after purchasing an additional 106,997 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec raised its holdings in Paychex by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 101,678 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $11,727,000 after purchasing an additional 764 shares during the period. Finally, Waverly Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Paychex in the 3rd quarter worth about $833,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Barclays reduced their price target on Paychex from $120.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday. TD Cowen cut their price objective on Paychex from $122.00 to $121.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $130.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research note on Thursday. Evercore ISI reiterated an “in-line” rating and set a $118.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Paychex from $126.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $122.46.

Paychex Trading Down 1.1 %

Paychex stock traded down $1.36 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $117.20. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 566,368 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,844,456. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.19 billion, a PE ratio of 25.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 1.00. Paychex, Inc. has a 1 year low of $106.27 and a 1 year high of $129.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $122.38 and its two-hundred day moving average is $121.90.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 26th. The business services provider reported $1.12 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.02. Paychex had a return on equity of 46.63% and a net margin of 32.03%. The company had revenue of $1.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.29 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.97 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 10th were paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.34%. This is a boost from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 9th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is 83.94%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Paychex news, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 19,709 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.55, for a total transaction of $2,454,755.95. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,383 shares in the company, valued at $670,452.65. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 11.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Paychex Company 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.