Bank of America Corp DE Decreases Stock Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Bank of America Corp DE trimmed its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 5.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,370,333 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 318,437 shares during the quarter. Bank of America Corp DE owned 1.49% of Paychex worth $753,028,000 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. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 174,817 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 26,905,031 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $3,772,544,000 after purchasing an additional 166,155 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,044,631 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,408,458,000 after buying an additional 519,761 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Paychex by 1.3% in the fourth 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 acquiring an additional 126,962 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 16.9% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,807,554 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $674,115,000 after purchasing an additional 694,651 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paychex

In other Paychex news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.25, for a total value of $544,762.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 78,455 shares in the company, valued at $11,709,408.75. This trade represents a 4.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 11.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Paychex Stock Performance

Paychex stock opened at $149.45 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $147.15 and a 200-day moving average price of $145.07. The company has a market capitalization of $53.83 billion, a PE ratio of 31.46, a P/E/G ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.88. Paychex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $115.40 and a fifty-two week high of $158.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.39.

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

Paychex Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th will be given a dividend of $1.08 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 12th. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.89%. This is an increase from Paychex's previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Paychex's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 81.67%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding PAYX? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.