Meeder Advisory Services Inc. Has $1.22 Million Stock Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Meeder Advisory Services Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,066 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 518 shares during the period. Meeder Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $1,217,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Czech National Bank boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 8.3% in the 2nd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 61,049 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,238,000 after purchasing an additional 4,703 shares in the last quarter. BDF Gestion bought a new stake in Paychex during the second quarter worth about $2,796,000. PGGM Investments grew its stake in Paychex by 57.7% during the second quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 21,703 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,573,000 after buying an additional 7,943 shares during the last quarter. DNB Asset Management AS increased its holdings in shares of Paychex by 6.6% during the second quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 64,580 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,657,000 after buying an additional 4,001 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates raised its stake in shares of Paychex by 27.4% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 988,417 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $132,636,000 after acquiring an additional 212,700 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 26,428 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.03, for a total value of $3,674,284.84. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 14,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,018,020.45. This trade represents a 64.55 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.35, for a total transaction of $1,852,685.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 17,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,471,480.70. This trade represents a 42.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 54,174 shares of company stock valued at $7,577,231 in the last three months. 11.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Paychex Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ PAYX opened at $141.76 on Tuesday. Paychex, Inc. has a 1 year low of $114.72 and a 1 year high of $150.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 1.38. The firm has a market cap of $51.02 billion, a PE ratio of 30.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.93 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $139.49 and a 200 day simple moving average of $129.42.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 1st. The business services provider reported $1.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.14 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.98 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 7th will be issued a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.77%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 83.58%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on PAYX. TD Cowen raised their price target on Paychex from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Paychex from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Stifel Nicolaus increased 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. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Paychex from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Paychex from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Paychex presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $130.77.

Paychex Company 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.