KCM Investment Advisors LLC Sells 72 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

KCM Investment Advisors LLC lowered its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 2,930 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 72 shares during the quarter. KCM Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $393,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Archer Investment Corp lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 9.7% in the third quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 987 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $132,000 after buying an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC lifted its holdings in Paychex by 2.2% during the third quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 11,082 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,487,000 after buying an additional 240 shares during the period. Dearborn Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. Dearborn Partners LLC now owns 10,884 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,461,000 after purchasing an additional 514 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 18.4% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 130,953 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $17,573,000 after purchasing an additional 20,361 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Paychex by 11.3% in the 3rd quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 7,995 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,073,000 after acquiring an additional 810 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $142.96 on Friday. 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 company has a market cap of $51.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.48, a P/E/G ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 0.99. Paychex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $114.72 and a fifty-two week high of $150.71. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $139.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $129.12.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 1st. The business services provider reported $1.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 31.98% and a return on equity of 45.97%. Paychex’s revenue was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.14 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.98 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.74%. Paychex’s payout ratio is 83.58%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on PAYX shares. Citigroup increased their price target on Paychex from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Paychex from $118.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Paychex from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock a “hold” 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, Paychex presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $130.77.

Insider Activity at Paychex

In other news, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 14,731 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.18, for a total transaction of $2,050,260.58. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 14,515 shares in the company, valued at $2,020,197.70. The trade was a 50.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of the business’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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 17,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,471,480.70. This represents a 42.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 54,174 shares of company stock worth $7,577,231. 11.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.