Cozad Asset Management Inc. Purchases 842 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Cozad Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 3.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 22,723 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 842 shares during the quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $3,506,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 8.0% during the 1st quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 9,456 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,459,000 after purchasing an additional 702 shares during the last quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Paychex during the 1st quarter worth $269,000. Norden Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 52.3% during the 1st quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 4,706 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $726,000 after purchasing an additional 1,617 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 159,158 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $24,555,000 after purchasing an additional 4,190 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Shoker Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Shoker Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 24,275 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,745,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Paychex news, CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,370 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.92, for a total transaction of $1,755,550.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 81,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,602,669.60. The trade was a 13.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, 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.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $146.26 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.28. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $150.16 and its 200-day moving average price is $148.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.69 billion, a PE ratio of 32.00, a P/E/G ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.88. Paychex, Inc. has a 1 year low of $122.07 and a 1 year high of $161.24.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 25th. The business services provider reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates 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. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 21st will be paid a dividend of $1.08 per share. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.95%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 21st. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 94.53%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on PAYX shares. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective 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. Barclays set a $155.00 price objective on Paychex and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Paychex from $140.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $140.00 price target on Paychex and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Citigroup set a $158.00 price target on Paychex and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. One 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 currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $150.20.

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.