Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. Grows Stock Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. boosted its holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 20.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 12,645 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 2,137 shares during the quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD.'s holdings in Paychex were worth $1,951,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake 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 worth $177,899,000 after buying an additional 1,147,419 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Paychex by 16.9% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,807,554 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $674,115,000 after buying an additional 694,651 shares during the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group raised its stake in shares of Paychex by 86.5% during the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 1,355,713 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $189,746,000 after buying an additional 628,912 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Paychex during the 4th quarter worth $78,215,000. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Paychex by 107.0% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 927,590 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $130,066,000 after buying an additional 479,488 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on PAYX shares. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Paychex from $150.00 to $148.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Paychex from $140.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Cfra Research raised Paychex to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $140.00 target price on shares of Paychex and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Barclays set a $155.00 target price on shares of Paychex and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Paychex presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $150.20.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.25, for a total transaction of $544,762.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 78,455 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,709,408.75. The trade was a 4.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 97,526 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.17, for a total value of $14,157,849.42. Following the sale, the chairman owned 446,917 shares of the company's stock, valued at $64,878,940.89. The trade was a 17.91% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 11.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Paychex Trading Down 1.4%

PAYX traded down $2.02 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $143.29. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,910,327 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,979,388. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10. The firm has a market cap of $51.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.35, a PEG ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 0.88. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $152.05 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $148.16. Paychex, Inc. has a 52-week low of $117.43 and a 52-week high of $161.24.

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

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 21st will be issued a $1.08 dividend. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.01%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 21st. Paychex's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 94.53%.

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.