Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. Lowers Stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. lessened its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 84.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,552 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 14,324 shares during the period. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $342,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 12.3% in the 3rd quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 371,827 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $49,895,000 after buying an additional 40,712 shares during the period. Cornerstone Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Paychex by 17.9% in the third quarter. Cornerstone Advisors LLC now owns 13,200 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,771,000 after acquiring an additional 2,000 shares during the period. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI grew its holdings in Paychex by 59.8% during the 3rd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 3,224 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $433,000 after acquiring an additional 1,206 shares in the last quarter. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Paychex during the 3rd quarter valued at about $85,000. Finally, Portfolio Design Labs LLC bought a new stake in shares of Paychex in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,764,000. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Paychex from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. UBS Group upped their price objective on Paychex from $125.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Barclays lifted their target price on Paychex from $118.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, 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 research 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $131.62.

Paychex Stock Up 0.3 %

PAYX stock opened at $144.46 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.99 billion, a PE ratio of 30.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.96 and a beta of 0.99. Paychex, Inc. has a 52 week low of $114.72 and a 52 week high of $150.71. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $140.18 and a 200 day moving average of $130.04.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 1st. The business services provider reported $1.16 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.02. Paychex had a net margin of 31.98% and a return on equity of 45.97%. The business had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.14 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 7th will be issued a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 83.58%.

Insider Transactions at Paychex

In related news, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 26,428 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.03, for a total transaction of $3,674,284.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 14,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,018,020.45. This trade represents a 64.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.35, for a total transaction of $1,852,685.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 17,362 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,471,480.70. The trade was a 42.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 54,174 shares of company stock worth $7,577,231 over the last three months. 11.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.