GHP Investment Advisors Inc. Purchases 1,163 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

GHP Investment Advisors Inc. raised its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 10.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 12,556 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,163 shares during the quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $1,489,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of PAYX. Czech National Bank lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 8.3% in the 2nd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 61,049 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,238,000 after purchasing an additional 4,703 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in Paychex in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,400,000. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 85.1% during the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,259,393 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $154,263,000 after acquiring an additional 579,136 shares during the last quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Paychex in the 4th quarter worth $23,330,000. Finally, Nomura Holdings Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Paychex in the 4th quarter worth $774,000. 83.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Paychex Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of PAYX stock opened at $135.09 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $126.36 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $123.41. Paychex, Inc. has a 52 week low of $106.27 and a 52 week high of $136.40. The stock has a market cap of $48.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.93, a PEG ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its 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. The company had revenue of $1.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.29 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 46.63% and a net margin of 32.03%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.97 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 8th were given a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.90%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 8th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 83.94%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Paychex from $125.00 to $122.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Paychex from $120.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 1st. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Paychex from $111.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $130.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Paychex from $121.00 to $126.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $123.00.

Insider Activity at Paychex

In other Paychex news, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 101,490 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.27, for a total value of $11,901,732.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 437,345 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $51,287,448.15. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Paychex news, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 14,434 shares of the company’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 transaction of $1,807,281.14. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 5,383 shares in the company, valued at $674,005.43. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 101,490 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.27, for a total value of $11,901,732.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 437,345 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $51,287,448.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 147,163 shares of company stock valued at $17,537,817 over the last 90 days. 11.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.