Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Shares Acquired by Trilogy Capital Inc.

Trilogy Capital Inc. grew its holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 39.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 20,384 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,761 shares during the quarter. Trilogy Capital Inc.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $3,145,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Paychex by 43.1% in the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 131,439 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $20,278,000 after purchasing an additional 39,565 shares during the last quarter. Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex in the first quarter valued at approximately $525,000. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its position in shares of Paychex by 2.4% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 144,156 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $22,240,000 after purchasing an additional 3,327 shares during the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. grew its position in shares of Paychex by 12.7% in the first quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 26,857 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,144,000 after purchasing an additional 3,037 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Journey Strategic Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Paychex by 105.6% in the first quarter. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC now owns 11,119 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,715,000 after purchasing an additional 5,710 shares during the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paychex

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on PAYX. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $165.00 price target on shares of Paychex and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Paychex from $150.00 to $148.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Barclays set a $155.00 target price on shares of Paychex and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Cfra Research upgraded shares of Paychex to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Paychex from $155.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Paychex presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $150.20.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of PAYX stock opened at $146.40 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $150.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $148.40. Paychex, Inc. has a 52 week low of $122.07 and a 52 week high of $161.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10. The company has a market cap of $52.74 billion, a PE ratio of 32.04, a P/E/G ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 0.88.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, June 25th. The business services provider reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19. Paychex had a net margin of 29.75% and a return on equity of 45.01%. The business had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.38 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.12 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 21st will be paid a $1.08 dividend. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.95%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 21st. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.