Archer Investment Corp Has $132,000 Stock Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Archer Investment Corp increased its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 9.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 987 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 87 shares during the period. Archer Investment Corp’s holdings in Paychex were worth $132,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Sei Investments Co. increased its position in Paychex by 5.8% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 110,113 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $13,522,000 after purchasing an additional 6,033 shares during the period. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC raised its position in shares of Paychex by 4.0% during the 1st quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 5,623 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $691,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Nwam LLC boosted its position in shares of Paychex by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Nwam LLC now owns 3,528 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $430,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Spirepoint Private Client LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex during the first quarter worth $579,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Paychex by 0.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,541,306 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,750,472,000 after purchasing an additional 123,268 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group boosted their target price on Paychex from $125.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Paychex from $118.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Citigroup raised their price objective on Paychex from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Paychex from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $130.77.

Paychex Price Performance

NASDAQ PAYX opened at $142.96 on Friday. Paychex, Inc. has a 12-month low of $114.72 and a 12-month high of $150.71. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $139.30 and its 200-day moving average is $129.12. The company has a market capitalization of $51.45 billion, a PE ratio of 30.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

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

Paychex Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Paychex

In related news, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.35, for a total value of $1,852,685.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 17,362 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,471,480.70. This trade represents a 42.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 14,731 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.18, for a total value of $2,050,260.58. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,515 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,020,197.70. This trade represents a 50.37 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 54,174 shares of company stock valued at $7,577,231. 11.40% of the stock is 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.