Geode Capital Management LLC Raises Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 2.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 9,414,072 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 190,937 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC owned approximately 2.62% of Paychex worth $1,262,700,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Paychex by 286.0% during the 2nd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 220 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 227.6% in the second quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 249 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its holdings in Paychex by 42.0% in the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 250 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in Paychex during the 3rd quarter worth $36,000. Finally, American National Bank lifted its holdings in Paychex by 166.7% during the 2nd quarter. American National Bank now owns 288 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 180 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paychex

In related news, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of the firm's 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 17,362 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,471,480.70. This trade represents a 42.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 26,428 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.03, for a total transaction of $3,674,284.84. Following the completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 54,174 shares of company stock worth $7,577,231. Insiders own 11.40% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on PAYX. UBS Group raised their price objective on Paychex from $125.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted 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. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Paychex from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two 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, Paychex presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $131.62.

Paychex Stock Down 0.8 %

Paychex stock traded down $1.15 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $141.24. The stock had a trading volume of 2,178,982 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,770,311. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.83 billion, a PE ratio of 30.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.92 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 stock's 50-day simple moving average is $142.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $131.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 1.38.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 1st. The business services provider reported $1.16 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.14 by $0.02. Paychex had a net margin of 31.98% and a return on equity of 45.97%. The business had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.14 EPS. Paychex's quarterly revenue was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 7th were given a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.78%. Paychex's payout ratio is 83.58%.

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.