WealthPlan Investment Management LLC Purchases Shares of 2,160 Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

WealthPlan Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX – Get Rating) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 2,160 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $260,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Syntal Capital Partners LLC grew its position in Paychex by 0.9% in the third quarter. Syntal Capital Partners LLC now owns 9,598 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,076,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the period. Vantage Consulting Group Inc grew its position in Paychex by 4.9% in the second quarter. Vantage Consulting Group Inc now owns 1,884 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $215,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the period. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group grew its position in Paychex by 3.1% in the second quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 2,930 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $334,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the period. Forum Financial Management LP grew its position in Paychex by 2.9% in the third quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 3,216 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $361,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the period. Finally, Penserra Capital Management LLC grew its position in Paychex by 6.3% in the first quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 1,535 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $209,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paychex

In other Paychex news, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 13,744 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.30, for a total value of $1,584,683.20. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 33,268 shares in the company, valued at $3,835,800.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 11.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Paychex Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ PAYX opened at $107.53 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $38.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.55, a PEG ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.98. 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. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $114.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $116.62.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 22nd. The business services provider reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $1.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.18 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.50% and a net margin of 30.45%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.91 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict 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 $0.79 dividend. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.94%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 8th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 78.02%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on PAYX shares. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on Paychex from $130.00 to $120.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 22nd. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Paychex from $117.00 to $114.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on Paychex from $123.00 to $116.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 3rd. Moffett Nathanson upped their price target on Paychex to $130.00 in a research note on Friday, December 2nd. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on Paychex from $110.00 to $105.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 13th. 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, Paychex has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $123.69.

Paychex Company Profile

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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.