Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Boosts Stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. grew its position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 187,663 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 4,157 shares during the quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. owned 0.05% of Paychex worth $25,182,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. CWM LLC increased its position in shares of Paychex by 6.8% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 16,677 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,977,000 after purchasing an additional 1,069 shares during the last quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Paychex by 34.8% in the second quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,616 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,021,000 after acquiring an additional 2,224 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Paychex by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 58,077 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $6,886,000 after purchasing an additional 1,308 shares during the last quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Paychex in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $76,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in Paychex by 212.9% in the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 77,727 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $9,215,000 after purchasing an additional 52,890 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Paychex

In other Paychex news, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 17,362 shares of the company's stock, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 26,428 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 9th. The stock was 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 directly owns 14,515 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,018,020.45. This trade represents a 64.55 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 54,174 shares of company stock worth $7,577,231. 11.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Paychex Price Performance

NASDAQ PAYX traded up $0.46 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $142.86. 2,243,202 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,422,102. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $142.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $131.27. The company has a market cap of $51.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.96 and a beta of 0.99. Paychex, Inc. has a 1 year low of $114.72 and a 1 year high of $150.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 1.38.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.14 by $0.02. Paychex had a net margin of 31.98% and a return on equity of 45.97%. The company had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.14 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 7th were given a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.74%. Paychex's payout ratio is currently 83.58%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. TD Cowen raised their target price on Paychex from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Paychex from $118.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Paychex from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report 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, Paychex has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $131.62.

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.