Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Acquires 285 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 0.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 30,548 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 285 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Paychex were worth $4,099,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Adero Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 3.7% during the third quarter. Adero Partners LLC now owns 2,316 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $311,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the period. Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Paychex during the 3rd quarter valued at about $465,000. Veery Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Paychex in the 3rd quarter valued at about $207,000. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its stake in Paychex by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 99,970 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $13,415,000 after acquiring an additional 1,424 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Seelaus Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Paychex by 1.9% during the third quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC now owns 5,242 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $703,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PAYX has been the subject of a number of research reports. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Paychex from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Citigroup raised their price target on Paychex from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Paychex from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Paychex currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $131.62.

Paychex Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $144.46 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 1.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.80, a P/E/G ratio of 3.96 and a beta of 0.99. The business’s 50-day moving average is $140.18 and its 200 day moving average is $130.04. Paychex, Inc. has a 1 year low of $114.72 and a 1 year high of $150.71.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 1st. The business services provider reported $1.16 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 31.98% and a return on equity of 45.97%. Paychex’s revenue was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.14 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 7th will be paid a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.71%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 83.58%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 26,428 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.03, for a total value of $3,674,284.84. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 14,515 shares in the company, valued at $2,018,020.45. This represents a 64.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.35, for a total transaction of $1,852,685.25. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 17,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,471,480.70. This represents a 42.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 54,174 shares of company stock valued at $7,577,231. 11.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Paychex

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.