Journey Strategic Wealth LLC Purchases 5,710 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Journey Strategic Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 105.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,119 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 5,710 shares during the period. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC's holdings in Paychex were worth $1,715,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Paychex by 20,236.7% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,153,089 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $177,899,000 after acquiring an additional 1,147,419 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Paychex by 16.9% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,807,554 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $674,115,000 after acquiring an additional 694,651 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 86.5% in the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 1,355,713 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $189,746,000 after buying an additional 628,912 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Paychex in the fourth quarter valued at about $78,215,000. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 43.5% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 1,519,430 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $213,054,000 after buying an additional 460,295 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,370 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.92, for a total value of $1,755,550.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 81,755 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,602,669.60. This represents a 13.14% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 97,526 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.17, for a total value of $14,157,849.42. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman directly owned 446,917 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,878,940.89. This represents a 17.91% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 11.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PAYX has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $165.00 target price on Paychex and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Paychex from $140.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on Paychex in a report on Thursday, July 10th. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $160.00 target price for the company. Jefferies Financial Group set a $140.00 target price on Paychex and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Paychex from $150.00 to $148.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Paychex currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $150.20.

Paychex Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ PAYX traded down $1.10 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $146.89. The stock had a trading volume of 388,436 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,135,736. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $150.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $148.57. The firm has a market cap of $52.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.88. Paychex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $122.07 and a fifty-two week high of $161.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.28.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, June 25th. The business services provider reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.19. The firm had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.38 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.01% and a net margin of 29.75%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.12 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Monday, July 21st will be issued a dividend of $1.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 21st. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.94%. Paychex's payout ratio is 94.53%.

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.