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

KCM Investment Advisors LLC cut its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor 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 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Paychex by 286.0% during the 2nd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 220 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 227.6% in the 2nd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 249 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the period. ESL Trust Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Paychex in the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 42.0% in the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 250 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the period. Finally, American National Bank raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 166.7% in the 2nd quarter. American National Bank now owns 288 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 26,428 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.03, for a total transaction of $3,674,284.84. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,018,020.45. This trade represents a 64.55 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 17,362 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,471,480.70. The trade was a 42.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 54,174 shares of company stock valued at $7,577,231 over the last quarter. Insiders own 11.40% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of Paychex stock opened at $142.96 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $139.30 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $129.12. The firm has a market capitalization 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 company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 1.38.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 1st. The business services provider reported $1.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.32 billion during 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%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.14 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors 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 yield of 2.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 83.58%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on PAYX. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Stifel Nicolaus increased 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. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Paychex from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $130.77.

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.