Versor Investments LP Purchases Shares of 6,455 Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Versor Investments LP purchased a new position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 6,455 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $866,000.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PAYX. Sei Investments Co. increased its stake in Paychex by 5.8% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 110,113 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $13,522,000 after buying an additional 6,033 shares in the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of Paychex by 3.2% during the first quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 8,225 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,010,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Paychex by 33.0% in the 1st quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,933 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $974,000 after purchasing an additional 1,968 shares during the last quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System lifted its holdings in Paychex by 7.3% in the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 378,775 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $43,404,000 after purchasing an additional 25,852 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in 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 last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on PAYX shares. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Paychex from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Barclays upped their price target on Paychex from $118.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Paychex from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Citigroup upped 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $130.77.

Paychex Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of Paychex stock traded down $1.47 on Wednesday, reaching $146.53. The company had a trading volume of 2,653,226 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,793,934. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 1.38. The firm has a market cap of $52.74 billion, a PE ratio of 31.24, a PEG ratio of 4.07 and a beta of 0.99. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $138.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $128.72. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 1st. The business services provider reported $1.16 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.14 by $0.02. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.97% and a net margin of 31.98%. The company had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.31 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.14 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.68%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 7th. Paychex's dividend payout ratio is currently 83.58%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Paychex news, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 26,428 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.03, for a total transaction of $3,674,284.84. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,515 shares in the company, valued at $2,018,020.45. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 26,428 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.03, for a total transaction of $3,674,284.84. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,515 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,018,020.45. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 17,362 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,471,480.70. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 54,174 shares of company stock worth $7,577,231 over the last three months. Company insiders own 11.40% of the company's stock.

Paychex 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.