National Pension Service Raises Stock Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

National Pension Service raised its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 8.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 688,089 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 53,544 shares during the period. National Pension Service owned 0.19% of Paychex worth $92,335,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 0.4% during 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 buying an additional 123,268 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 12.8% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 20,878,283 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $2,563,853,000 after buying an additional 2,373,894 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 155.6% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,478,325 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $304,338,000 after buying an additional 1,508,681 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of 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 valued at $279,351,000 after buying an additional 384,184 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 57.2% during the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 2,179,930 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $267,695,000 after buying an additional 793,468 shares during the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. TD Cowen upped their target price on Paychex from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. UBS Group increased their price objective on Paychex from $125.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Paychex from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Paychex from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Paychex from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $130.77.

Paychex Stock Up 6.3 %

NASDAQ PAYX traded up $8.83 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $148.59. 3,444,472 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,789,215. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 1.38. The company has a market cap of $53.48 billion, a PE ratio of 31.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.84 and a beta of 0.99. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $137.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $127.93. Paychex, Inc. has a 52 week low of $110.82 and a 52 week high of $149.26.

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

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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 2.64%. Paychex's dividend payout ratio is presently 83.58%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.35, for a total transaction of $1,852,685.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 17,362 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,471,480.70. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 17,362 shares in the company, valued at $2,471,480.70. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, 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 value of $2,050,260.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 14,515 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,020,197.70. This trade 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 worth $7,577,231. Insiders own 11.40% of the company's stock.

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.