Diversified Trust Co Has $318,000 Stock Position in Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

Diversified Trust Co lifted its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 4.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,186 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co’s holdings in Paychex were worth $318,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Summit Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in Paychex by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Summit Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,027 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $467,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. LGT Group Foundation grew its holdings in Paychex by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. LGT Group Foundation now owns 2,528 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $390,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Equity Partners grew its holdings in Paychex by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 7,623 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,176,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,192 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $492,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the period. Finally, King Wealth Management Group lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 4.7% in the 1st quarter. King Wealth Management Group now owns 1,669 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $257,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Paychex

In related news, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 97,526 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.17, for a total value of $14,157,849.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman directly owned 446,917 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $64,878,940.89. This represents a 17.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,370 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.92, for a total value of $1,755,550.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 81,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,602,669.60. The trade was a 13.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PAYX has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Barclays set a $155.00 price target on shares of Paychex and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Paychex from $152.00 to $142.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $165.00 target price on shares of Paychex and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $140.00 price target on shares of Paychex and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Paychex from $148.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Paychex currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $146.50.

Paychex Stock Performance

PAYX opened at $128.27 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.13 billion, a PE ratio of 28.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.91. Paychex, Inc. has a 12-month low of $128.18 and a 12-month high of $161.24. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $138.29 and a two-hundred day moving average of $145.41. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 25th. The business services provider reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19. The firm had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.38 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 29.75% and a return on equity of 45.01%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.12 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 21st were paid a dividend of $1.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 21st. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is 94.53%.

About Paychex

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.