Capital International Sarl Raises Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Capital International Sarl raised its holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 37.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 6,794 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 1,845 shares during the quarter. Capital International Sarl's holdings in Paychex were worth $953,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in PAYX. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 91.1% in the 4th quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 10,808 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,515,000 after acquiring an additional 5,153 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 997,930 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $142,055,000 after buying an additional 27,296 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 120.0% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 6,936 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $973,000 after buying an additional 3,783 shares during the last quarter. PFW Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Paychex during the fourth quarter worth about $2,405,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Paychex by 3.3% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 424,160 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $56,918,000 after acquiring an additional 13,702 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Paychex

In related news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.25, for a total value of $544,762.50. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 78,455 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,709,408.75. The trade was a 4.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 11.40% of the company's stock.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of PAYX stock traded up $0.99 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $144.21. The company had a trading volume of 1,602,765 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,918,219. Paychex, Inc. has a 12-month low of $115.40 and a 12-month high of $158.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.39. The company has a market capitalization of $51.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.36, a PEG ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.88. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $147.62 and a 200-day moving average of $144.67.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analysts' expectations of $1.51 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.28% and a net margin of 32.02%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.38 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.