Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN Increases Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN increased its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 10.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 154,915 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 14,063 shares during the quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN's holdings in Paychex were worth $20,788,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Paychex by 14.3% in the second quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 22,820 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $2,706,000 after buying an additional 2,849 shares in the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital raised its position in Paychex by 7.2% during the second quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 2,125 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $251,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. M&G Plc bought a new stake in Paychex during the second quarter worth about $2,068,000. AA Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Paychex in the 2nd quarter worth about $224,000. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of Paychex by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 82,044 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $9,727,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares during the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on PAYX. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Paychex from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Paychex from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. UBS Group raised their price target on Paychex from $125.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $131.62.

Paychex Trading Up 0.8 %

NASDAQ:PAYX traded up $1.14 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $142.09. 637,355 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,761,165. Paychex, Inc. has a 12-month low of $114.72 and a 12-month high of $150.71. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The firm's fifty day moving average is $142.58 and its 200-day moving average is $131.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.05, a P/E/G ratio of 3.92 and a beta of 0.99.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 1st. The business services provider reported $1.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.14 EPS. Paychex's quarterly revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.98 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 7th were issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 7th. Paychex's payout ratio is 83.58%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paychex

In related news, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 14,731 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.18, for a total transaction of $2,050,260.58. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,515 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,020,197.70. This represents a 50.37 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.35, for a total value of $1,852,685.25. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 17,362 shares in the company, valued at $2,471,480.70. The trade was a 42.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 54,174 shares of company stock valued at $7,577,231. Company insiders own 11.40% of the company's stock.

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.