Coastline Trust Co Trims Stock Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Coastline Trust Co reduced its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 5.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,799 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,248 shares during the quarter. Coastline Trust Co’s holdings in Paychex were worth $2,925,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in Paychex by 12.8% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 20,878,283 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,563,853,000 after buying an additional 2,373,894 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its stake in Paychex by 155.6% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,478,325 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $304,338,000 after acquiring an additional 1,508,681 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Paychex by 38,655.2% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 799,907 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $107,340,000 after acquiring an additional 797,843 shares during the period. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. lifted its stake in Paychex by 30.9% in the 1st quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 1,676,521 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $205,877,000 after purchasing an additional 395,343 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Paychex by 19.5% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,356,262 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $279,351,000 after purchasing an additional 384,184 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PAYX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Paychex from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Paychex from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Paychex from $118.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Paychex presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $130.77.

Insider Activity

In other Paychex news, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 26,428 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.03, for a total transaction 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 $2,018,020.45. This represents a 64.55 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.35, for a total transaction of $1,852,685.25. Following 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 54,174 shares of company stock valued at $7,577,231. 11.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Paychex Price Performance

PAYX stock opened at $142.96 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 1.38. The firm 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. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $139.30 and its 200 day moving average is $129.12. Paychex, Inc. has a 52 week low of $114.72 and a 52 week high of $150.71.

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

Paychex Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 7th will be given a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.74%. Paychex’s payout ratio is currently 83.58%.

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.