ProShare Advisors LLC Decreases Stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

ProShare Advisors LLC reduced its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 6.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 331,170 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 23,507 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC owned about 0.09% of Paychex worth $37,048,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. NewSquare Capital LLC boosted its stake in Paychex by 91.7% in the 2nd quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 255 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 122 shares during the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Paychex by 80.9% in the second quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 275 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. Atlantic Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Paychex during the 1st quarter worth approximately $36,000. Cambridge Trust Co. raised its stake in shares of Paychex by 254.4% in the 1st quarter. Cambridge Trust Co. now owns 319 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 229 shares during the period. Finally, MCF Advisors LLC boosted its position in Paychex by 110.1% during the 2nd quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 332 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Paychex

In related news, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 41,329 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.79, for a total value of $4,785,484.91. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 19,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,292,642. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 11.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Paychex from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 28th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Paychex from $130.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 28th. Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $115.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research note on Tuesday, September 26th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Paychex from $125.00 to $127.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 28th. Finally, UBS Group assumed coverage on Paychex in a research report on Tuesday, November 7th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $120.00 target price on the stock. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $121.63.

Paychex Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $118.77 on Tuesday. Paychex, Inc. has a twelve month low of $104.09 and a twelve month high of $129.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The firm has a market cap of $42.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.93, a P/E/G ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a 50 day moving average of $115.44 and a 200-day moving average of $116.00.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 27th. The business services provider reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.02. Paychex had a return on equity of 46.51% and a net margin of 31.40%. The company had revenue of $1.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.28 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.03 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 28th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 14th will be given a dividend of $0.89 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 13th. This represents a $3.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.00%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 80.73%.

About Paychex

Paychex, Inc provides integrated human capital management solutions for human resources (HR), payroll, benefits, 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.