Sanctuary Advisors LLC Makes New $10.04 Million Investment in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 83,672 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $10,038,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Paychex by 286.0% during the 2nd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 220 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Paychex by 227.6% in the second quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 249 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex in the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Paychex during the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, ESL Trust Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Paychex during the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of PAYX stock opened at $139.36 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 1.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 1.00. Paychex, Inc. has a one year low of $106.27 and a one year high of $142.04. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $130.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $124.70.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 1st. The business services provider reported $1.16 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by $0.02. Paychex had a return on equity of 46.63% and a net margin of 32.03%. The business had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.14 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 29th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 2.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 8th. Paychex’s payout ratio is currently 83.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Paychex news, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 14,434 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.21, for a total transaction of $1,807,281.14. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $674,005.43. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related 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 value of $1,807,281.14. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 5,383 shares in the company, valued at approximately $674,005.43. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 9,615 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.60, for a total value of $1,207,644.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 5,383 shares in the company, valued at approximately $676,104.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 45,673 shares of company stock valued at $5,636,085. 11.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on PAYX shares. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Paychex from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of Paychex from $126.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $111.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and twelve have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $130.77.

Paychex 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.