EP Wealth Advisors LLC Invests $419,000 in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

EP Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 8,442 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $419,000.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of PAYX. Fairfield Bush & CO. purchased a new position in Paychex during the 1st quarter valued at about $269,000. Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Paychex by 35.7% during the 1st quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 5,455 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $747,000 after acquiring an additional 1,436 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in shares of Paychex by 118.3% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 91,985 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $12,554,000 after acquiring an additional 49,851 shares during the period. Prudential PLC purchased a new position in shares of Paychex during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,019,000. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new position in shares of Paychex during the 1st quarter worth approximately $237,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Paychex

In other news, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 132,851 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.43, for a total value of $15,999,245.93. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 459,101 shares in the company, valued at approximately $55,289,533.43. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director Joseph M. Tucci sold 12,156 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.02, for a total value of $1,373,871.12. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 53,460 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,042,049.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 132,851 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.43, for a total value of $15,999,245.93. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 459,101 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $55,289,533.43. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 221,916 shares of company stock worth $26,789,753 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 11.50% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Price Performance

NASDAQ PAYX opened at $115.97 on Monday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $122.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $114.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.97, a PEG ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.30. Paychex, Inc. has a 1-year low of $104.09 and a 1-year high of $129.70.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 29th. The business services provider reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.97. The firm had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.22 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 46.79% and a net margin of 31.10%. The company’s revenue was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.81 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 10th were paid a $0.89 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 9th. This represents a $3.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.07%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 82.79%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on PAYX shares. Royal Bank of Canada started coverage on Paychex in a research report on Tuesday, September 5th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $130.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group boosted their price target on Paychex from $115.00 to $116.00 in a research report on Friday, June 30th. Bank of America dropped their price target on Paychex from $105.00 to $103.00 in a research report on Friday, June 30th. VNET Group reissued a “maintains” rating on shares of Paychex in a research report on Friday, June 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $125.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research report on Friday, June 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $123.12.

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.