United Asset Strategies Inc. Buys 747 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

United Asset Strategies Inc. grew its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYXFree Report) by 4.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 17,099 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 747 shares during the quarter. United Asset Strategies Inc.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $2,295,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Brookstone Capital Management grew its holdings in shares of Paychex by 37.6% in the 1st quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 2,418 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $297,000 after buying an additional 661 shares during the period. Norden Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Paychex in the first quarter worth about $3,255,000. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. raised its position in shares of Paychex by 17.7% during the first quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 16,470 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,023,000 after purchasing an additional 2,471 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 5.7% during the 1st quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 10,471 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,286,000 after purchasing an additional 569 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in shares of Paychex by 6.1% in the 1st quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 74,909 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $9,199,000 after purchasing an additional 4,320 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Paychex

In other Paychex news, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 14,434 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.21, for a total transaction of $1,807,281.14. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 5,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $674,005.43. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Paychex news, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 14,434 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.21, for a total value of $1,807,281.14. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $674,005.43. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 14,731 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.18, for a total value of $2,050,260.58. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 14,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,020,197.70. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 68,608 shares of company stock worth $9,384,512. 11.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Paychex Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PAYX traded down $1.13 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $140.26. The stock had a trading volume of 199,330 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,779,686. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $135.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $127.19. Paychex, Inc. has a 12 month low of $106.27 and a 12 month high of $144.17. The company has a market cap of $50.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.06, a PEG ratio of 3.86 and a beta of 1.00.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYXGet Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 1st. The business services provider reported $1.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.02. Paychex had a net margin of 31.98% and a return on equity of 45.97%. The company had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.14 EPS. Paychex’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 7th will be given a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.79%. Paychex’s payout ratio is 83.58%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on PAYX shares. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Paychex from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Paychex from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. UBS Group boosted their price target on Paychex from $125.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on Paychex from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $130.77.

Check Out Our Latest Research Report on PAYX

About Paychex

(Free Report)

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.

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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX)

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