Victory Capital Management Inc. Cuts Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Victory Capital Management Inc. trimmed its holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 28.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 610,847 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 239,249 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned about 0.17% of Paychex worth $81,970,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 5.8% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 110,113 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $13,522,000 after buying an additional 6,033 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 8,225 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,010,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System boosted its stake in Paychex by 7.3% during the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 378,775 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $43,404,000 after buying an additional 25,852 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Paychex by 17.3% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 405,091 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $49,745,000 after purchasing an additional 59,630 shares during the period. Finally, HBK Sorce Advisory LLC grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 4.9% in the first quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 10,250 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,259,000 after buying an additional 477 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Paychex

In other 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 transaction of $1,852,685.25. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 17,362 shares in the company, 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 through this link. Also, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 26,428 shares of the company's 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 transaction, the vice president now 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. Insiders sold a total of 54,174 shares of company stock valued at $7,577,231 over the last three months. 11.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PAYX has been the topic of several recent research reports. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Paychex from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Citigroup boosted their target price on Paychex from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Paychex from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Paychex has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $130.77.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of PAYX stock traded down $0.69 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $145.84. The stock had a trading volume of 1,455,172 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,792,399. Paychex, Inc. has a 12-month low of $114.72 and a 12-month high of $150.71. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $138.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $128.85. The company has a market cap of $52.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.07 and a beta of 0.99.

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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.14 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.32 billion during 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 firm's quarterly revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.14 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 7th will be given a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.69%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 7th. 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.