Clearstead Advisors LLC Has $495,000 Stock Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Clearstead Advisors LLC cut its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX – Get Rating) by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,412 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 272 shares during the period. Clearstead Advisors LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $495,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dean Investment Associates LLC boosted its position in Paychex by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Dean Investment Associates LLC now owns 18,774 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,138,000 after buying an additional 233 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 221,127 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $25,177,000 after purchasing an additional 2,593 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 13.6% in the 3rd quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 17,308 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,942,000 after purchasing an additional 2,066 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 7.9% in the 3rd quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 7,663 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $859,000 after purchasing an additional 564 shares during the period. Finally, Everence Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 89.7% in the 3rd quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,324 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $710,000 after purchasing an additional 2,990 shares during the period. 71.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paychex

In other Paychex news, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 13,744 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.30, for a total transaction of $1,584,683.20. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 33,268 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,835,800.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 11.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of PAYX stock opened at $108.24 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.02 billion, a PE ratio of 26.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 0.98. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $114.87 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $116.88. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. Paychex, Inc. has a 12 month low of $105.66 and a 12 month high of $141.92.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 22nd. The business services provider reported $0.99 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $1.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.18 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 30.45% and a return on equity of 45.50%. Paychex’s quarterly revenue was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.91 EPS. Analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 9th were paid a dividend of $0.79 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 8th. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.92%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 78.02%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on PAYX. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $120.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 22nd. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Paychex from $110.00 to $105.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Paychex from $117.00 to $114.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Paychex from $121.00 to $119.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 23rd. Finally, Moffett Nathanson boosted their target price on shares of Paychex to $130.00 in a research report on Friday, December 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $123.69.

About Paychex

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Paychex, Inc engages in the provision of human capital management solutions for payroll, human resources, insurance and retirement for small and medium-sized businesses. Its solutions include payroll services, hiring services, business insurance, time and attendance, employee benefits, finance and payments, human resources services and startup services.