iA Global Asset Management Inc. Has $5.32 Million Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

iA Global Asset Management Inc. lowered its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 55.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 39,643 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 49,846 shares during the period. iA Global Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Paychex were worth $5,320,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 212.9% in the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 77,727 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $9,215,000 after acquiring an additional 52,890 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 8.3% in the second quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 61,049 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $7,238,000 after acquiring an additional 4,703 shares during the last quarter. RFG Advisory LLC grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 11.2% in the second quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 13,100 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,553,000 after acquiring an additional 1,321 shares during the last quarter. Strong Tower Advisory Services grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 35.5% in the second quarter. Strong Tower Advisory Services now owns 10,670 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,265,000 after acquiring an additional 2,793 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Signature Wealth Management Group grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 1.7% in the second quarter. Signature Wealth Management Group now owns 31,218 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $3,701,000 after acquiring an additional 533 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other Paychex news, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 26,428 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 14,515 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,018,020.45. This represents a 64.55 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 17,362 shares of the company's stock, 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. Insiders sold a total of 54,174 shares of company stock valued at $7,577,231 in the last ninety days. 11.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Paychex Trading Up 0.3 %

PAYX stock traded up $0.46 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $142.86. The stock had a trading volume of 2,243,202 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,422,102. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $142.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $131.46. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The firm has a market cap of $51.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.46, a PEG ratio of 3.96 and a beta of 0.99. Paychex, Inc. has a twelve month low of $114.72 and a twelve month high of $150.71.

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

Paychex Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 7th were paid a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.74%. Paychex's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 83.58%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on PAYX. Barclays raised their target price on Paychex from $118.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Citigroup raised their target price on Paychex from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Paychex from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $131.62.

Paychex Company 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.