Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC Has $1.59 Million Stock Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 1.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 11,811 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the period. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $1,585,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in PAYX. Cumberland Partners Ltd boosted its holdings in Paychex by 62.5% in the third quarter. Cumberland Partners Ltd now owns 13,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,744,000 after purchasing an additional 5,000 shares in the last quarter. Savvy Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Paychex by 29.7% during the third quarter. Savvy Advisors Inc. now owns 2,720 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $365,000 after purchasing an additional 623 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 1.5% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 831,967 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $111,642,000 after buying an additional 12,178 shares during the last quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Paychex by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 29,234 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,923,000 after buying an additional 1,564 shares during the last quarter. Finally, WCM Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Paychex during the 3rd quarter worth $315,000. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 14,731 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.18, for a total transaction of $2,050,260.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,515 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,020,197.70. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Paychex news, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 26,428 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.03, for a total value of $3,674,284.84. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,018,020.45. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 14,731 shares of the company’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 transaction of $2,050,260.58. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,020,197.70. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 54,174 shares of company stock valued at $7,577,231 over the last 90 days. 11.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Paychex Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of PAYX stock traded up $0.56 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $149.29. The company had a trading volume of 257,178 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,780,578. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 1.38. Paychex, Inc. has a 1-year low of $113.87 and a 1-year high of $150.71. The firm has a market cap of $53.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.71, a P/E/G ratio of 4.08 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a 50 day moving average of $138.10 and a 200 day moving average of $128.52.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 1st. The business services provider reported $1.16 EPS 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 firm had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.31 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.14 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.98 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 7th. Paychex’s payout ratio is currently 83.58%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on PAYX. UBS Group increased their target price on Paychex from $125.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Paychex from $118.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. 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 report on Wednesday, October 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Paychex from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Paychex from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $130.77.

Paychex 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.