Hilltop National Bank Sells 193 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Hilltop National Bank trimmed its holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 2.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,826 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 193 shares during the quarter. Hilltop National Bank’s holdings in Paychex were worth $1,238,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Savant Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Paychex by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 7,739 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $918,000 after acquiring an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new position in shares of Paychex during the second quarter valued at about $30,000. Choreo LLC raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 210.3% during the second quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 10,193 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,193,000 after purchasing an additional 6,908 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Paychex by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 183,506 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $21,756,000 after purchasing an additional 2,461 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 10.9% in the 2nd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 69,582 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $8,250,000 after buying an additional 6,829 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Paychex news, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.35, for a total value of $1,852,685.25. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 17,362 shares in the company, valued at $2,471,480.70. The trade was a 42.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 11.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on PAYX shares. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Paychex from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Paychex presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $132.23.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of Paychex stock traded down $1.24 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $139.01. 476,489 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,720,263. The company has a market capitalization of $50.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.64, a P/E/G ratio of 3.88 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 1.38. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $142.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $134.24. Paychex, Inc. has a 12 month low of $114.72 and a 12 month high of $150.71.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.31 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.97% and a net margin of 31.98%. The business’s revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.08 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th will be given a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.82%. Paychex’s payout ratio is currently 82.53%.

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.