Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Shares Acquired by BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S

BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S raised its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 19.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 329,635 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 53,302 shares during the quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S owned 0.09% of Paychex worth $46,221,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Paychex in the fourth quarter worth approximately $184,216,000. Amundi increased its stake in Paychex by 77.9% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,534,145 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $215,164,000 after purchasing an additional 672,010 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 86.5% during the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 1,355,713 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $189,746,000 after purchasing an additional 628,912 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 30,382.8% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 568,809 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $79,758,000 after purchasing an additional 566,943 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Paychex in the fourth quarter worth about $78,215,000. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on PAYX shares. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Barclays raised their price objective on Paychex from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, March 31st. Citigroup upped their target price on Paychex from $145.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Cfra Research upgraded Paychex to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Paychex presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $141.00.

Paychex Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PAYX traded up $0.73 during trading on Thursday, reaching $143.95. The stock had a trading volume of 707,138 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,914,748. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $147.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $144.67. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. Paychex, Inc. has a one year low of $115.40 and a one year high of $158.37. The company has a market capitalization of $51.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.31, a PEG ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.88.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.51 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.51 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 32.02% and a return on equity of 45.28%. Paychex's revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.38 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Paychex news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.25, for a total transaction of $544,762.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 78,455 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,709,408.75. This represents a 4.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 11.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.