Barclays PLC Acquires 552,540 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 46.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,748,485 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 552,540 shares during the quarter. Barclays PLC owned about 0.49% of Paychex worth $234,627,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of PAYX. Continuum Advisory LLC bought a new stake in Paychex during the 3rd quarter worth about $89,000. MML Investors Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Paychex by 6.5% during the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 329,080 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $44,159,000 after buying an additional 20,064 shares during the last quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of Paychex by 805.9% during the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 308 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 274 shares during the last quarter. Bontempo Ohly Capital Mgmt LLC lifted its holdings in Paychex by 0.7% in the third quarter. Bontempo Ohly Capital Mgmt LLC now owns 33,787 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $4,534,000 after buying an additional 222 shares during the period. Finally, DF Dent & Co. Inc. boosted its position in shares of Paychex by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. DF Dent & Co. Inc. now owns 34,378 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $4,613,000 after purchasing an additional 2,235 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other Paychex news, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 26,428 shares of Paychex 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,515 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,018,020.45. The trade was a 64.55 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 17,362 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,471,480.70. This represents a 42.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 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 Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of PAYX stock traded up $1.44 on Tuesday, reaching $142.39. 2,384,992 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,768,593. The company has a 50-day moving average of $142.58 and a 200-day moving average of $131.57. Paychex, Inc. has a one year low of $114.72 and a one year high of $150.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 1.38. The company has a market cap of $51.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.36, a PEG ratio of 3.92 and a beta of 0.99.

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

Paychex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 7th were paid a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.75%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 7th. Paychex's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 83.58%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Paychex from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Paychex from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price 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 analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Paychex presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $131.62.

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.