Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Shares Sold by Park National Corp OH

Park National Corp OH decreased its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 18.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,201 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,386 shares during the period. Park National Corp OH’s holdings in Paychex were worth $870,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Raymond James & Associates grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 27.4% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 988,417 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $132,636,000 after buying an additional 212,700 shares during the period. Guinness Asset Management LTD boosted its holdings in Paychex by 4.6% in the third quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 1,567,667 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $210,282,000 after acquiring an additional 68,627 shares during the last quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. grew its position in Paychex by 7.2% during the second quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 1,703,913 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $202,016,000 after acquiring an additional 114,132 shares during the period. MBB Public Markets I LLC acquired a new stake in Paychex during the second quarter worth about $2,557,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 169.9% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 7,624 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,023,000 after purchasing an additional 4,799 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Trading Up 0.7 %

NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $140.25 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $50.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.88 and a beta of 1.00. Paychex, Inc. has a one year low of $114.72 and a one year high of $150.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 1.38. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $142.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $134.20.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.97% and a net margin of 31.98%. Paychex’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.08 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Paychex

In related news, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.35, for a total value of $1,852,685.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 17,362 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,471,480.70. This trade represents a 42.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 11.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on PAYX shares. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Paychex from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $132.23.

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.