Empower Advisory Group LLC Has $1.42 Million Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Empower Advisory Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 156.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 10,555 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 6,438 shares during the period. Empower Advisory Group LLC's holdings in Paychex were worth $1,416,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of PAYX. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in Paychex by 12.8% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 20,878,283 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $2,563,853,000 after acquiring an additional 2,373,894 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its position in Paychex by 155.6% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,478,325 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $304,338,000 after buying an additional 1,508,681 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in Paychex by 38,655.2% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 799,907 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $107,340,000 after buying an additional 797,843 shares during the last quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. increased its position in Paychex by 30.9% during the first quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 1,676,521 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $205,877,000 after buying an additional 395,343 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Paychex by 19.5% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,356,262 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $279,351,000 after buying an additional 384,184 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company's stock.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of PAYX stock traded down $0.69 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $145.84. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,455,172 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,792,399. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $138.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $128.85. The company has a market capitalization of $52.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.24, a PEG ratio of 4.07 and a beta of 0.99. Paychex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $114.72 and a fifty-two week high of $150.71. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

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

Paychex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 7th will be issued a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 7th. Paychex's dividend payout ratio is presently 83.58%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paychex

In related news, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 14,731 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the vice president now owns 14,515 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,020,197.70. This trade represents a 50.37 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were 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 directly owns 17,362 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,471,480.70. This trade represents 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. 11.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PAYX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Paychex from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Paychex from $125.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Barclays boosted their price target on Paychex from $118.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Paychex from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $130.77.

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.