4,454 Shares in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Bought by MQS Management LLC

MQS Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 4,454 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $598,000.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Paychex by 0.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,541,306 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $3,750,472,000 after purchasing an additional 123,268 shares during the period. Capital International Investors lifted its position in Paychex by 12.8% during the 1st 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 lifted its position in Paychex by 155.6% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,478,325 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $304,338,000 after acquiring an additional 1,508,681 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Paychex by 19.5% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,356,262 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $279,351,000 after acquiring an additional 384,184 shares during the period. Finally, Epoch Investment Partners Inc. grew its position in Paychex by 6.8% in the second quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 1,790,377 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $212,267,000 after acquiring an additional 113,856 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Paychex

In related news, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 26,428 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.03, for a total value of $3,674,284.84. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 14,515 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,018,020.45. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 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 sale, the vice president now owns 14,515 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,018,020.45. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 14,731 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.18, for a total transaction of $2,050,260.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,515 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,020,197.70. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 54,174 shares of company stock valued at $7,577,231. 11.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Paychex Price Performance

PAYX stock traded down $1.47 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $146.53. 2,653,211 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,793,934. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $138.42 and a 200 day simple moving average of $128.72. The company has a market cap of $52.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.24, a P/E/G ratio of 4.07 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. Paychex, Inc. has a one year low of $114.72 and a one year high of $150.71.

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

Paychex Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.68%. Paychex's dividend payout ratio is 83.58%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Barclays raised their target price on Paychex from $118.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Citigroup boosted their price target on Paychex from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Paychex from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $130.77.

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.