Capital International Inc. CA Grows Stock Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Capital International Inc. CA boosted its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 25.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 158,823 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 31,867 shares during the period. Capital International Inc. CA's holdings in Paychex were worth $22,270,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,521,025 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $4,419,878,000 after acquiring an additional 174,817 shares during the period. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in Paychex by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 26,905,031 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $3,772,544,000 after purchasing an additional 166,155 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,044,631 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,408,458,000 after purchasing an additional 519,761 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,541,034 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,339,463,000 after purchasing an additional 126,962 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Paychex by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,104,626 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $575,551,000 after buying an additional 208,130 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Paychex

In other Paychex news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.25, for a total value of $544,762.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 78,455 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,709,408.75. The trade was a 4.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 11.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Paychex Stock Up 0.5 %

NASDAQ PAYX traded up $0.73 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $143.95. The company's stock had a trading volume of 707,138 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,914,748. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $147.62 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $144.67. The company has a market capitalization of $51.85 billion, a PE ratio of 30.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.88. Paychex, Inc. has a 52 week low of $115.40 and a 52 week high of $158.37.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.01. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.28% and a net margin of 32.02%. The company had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.51 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.38 earnings per share. Paychex's quarterly revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PAYX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Paychex from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, March 31st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Paychex from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Citigroup raised their target price on Paychex from $145.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $141.00.

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.