Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors LLC Acquires New Stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 3,467 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $465,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of PAYX. Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Paychex by 286.0% in the second quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 220 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC grew 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 worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC raised its position in shares of Paychex by 42.0% during the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 250 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the period. American National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 166.7% during the second 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 last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP increased its stake in Paychex by 152.6% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 293 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Paychex Stock Down 2.0 %

PAYX stock opened at $142.96 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The firm has a market cap of $51.45 billion, a PE ratio of 30.48, a PEG ratio of 3.93 and a beta of 0.99. Paychex, Inc. has a 1 year low of $114.72 and a 1 year high of $150.71. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $139.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $129.26.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.97% and a net margin of 31.98%. The firm’s revenue was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.14 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at Paychex

In other Paychex news, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 26,428 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.03, for a total value of $3,674,284.84. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,018,020.45. The trade was 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 stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 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. Over the last three months, insiders sold 54,174 shares of company stock worth $7,577,231. 11.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PAYX has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Paychex from $118.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Paychex from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Paychex presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $130.77.

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.