Portfolio Design Labs LLC Makes New $1.76 Million Investment in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Portfolio Design Labs LLC purchased a new position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund purchased 13,143 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,764,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PAYX. Czech National Bank increased its holdings in shares of Paychex by 8.3% during the 2nd 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. BDF Gestion acquired a new position in shares of Paychex during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,796,000. PGGM Investments increased its holdings in shares of Paychex by 57.7% during the 2nd quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 21,703 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $2,573,000 after acquiring an additional 7,943 shares during the last quarter. DNB Asset Management AS increased its holdings in shares of Paychex by 6.6% during the 2nd quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 64,580 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $7,657,000 after acquiring an additional 4,001 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates increased its holdings in shares of Paychex by 27.4% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 988,417 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $132,636,000 after acquiring an additional 212,700 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paychex

In other news, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 17,362 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,471,480.70. This represents a 42.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 26,428 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 14,515 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,018,020.45. The trade was a 64.55 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 54,174 shares of company stock worth $7,577,231. 11.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on PAYX. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Paychex from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Paychex from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Citigroup upped their price objective on Paychex from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Paychex from $118.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $131.62.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PAYX traded up $1.17 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $141.83. 1,348,724 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,784,786. The company's 50 day moving average is $139.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $129.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.04 billion, a PE ratio of 29.99, a PEG ratio of 3.93 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. Paychex, Inc. has a 52 week low of $114.72 and a 52 week high of $150.71.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last announced 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 business had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.97% and a net margin of 31.98%. Paychex's revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.14 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 7th will be given a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.76%. Paychex's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.