Rothschild Investment LLC Invests $85,000 in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Rothschild Investment LLC purchased a new position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 717 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $85,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ethos Financial Group LLC boosted 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 purchasing an additional 85 shares during the period. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI grew its holdings in shares of Paychex by 1.2% during the second quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI now owns 7,362 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $873,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in Paychex by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,543 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $312,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares during the period. Rockland Trust Co. raised its stake in Paychex by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 9,074 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,114,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KCM Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Paychex by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. KCM Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,190 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $392,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Paychex Stock Up 0.1 %

Paychex stock opened at $132.04 on Thursday. Paychex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $106.27 and a fifty-two week high of $133.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 1.00. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $124.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $122.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 1.37.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, June 26th. The business services provider reported $1.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.02. Paychex had a net margin of 32.03% and a return on equity of 46.63%. The firm had revenue of $1.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.29 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.97 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 8th were issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 8th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 83.94%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 14,434 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.21, for a total value of $1,807,281.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 5,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $674,005.43. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Paychex news, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 14,434 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.21, for a total transaction of $1,807,281.14. Following the transaction, the director now owns 5,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $674,005.43. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,670 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.53, for a total value of $1,514,445.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 55,745 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,663,199.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 147,163 shares of company stock valued at $17,537,817. Corporate insiders own 11.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on PAYX shares. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $122.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Paychex from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Paychex from $120.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 1st. Bank of America boosted their target price on Paychex from $111.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $130.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a report on Thursday, June 27th. 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.com, Paychex currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $122.62.

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.