Bank of America Corp DE Has $753.03 Million Stock Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Bank of America Corp DE lowered its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 5.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor 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 about 1.49% of Paychex worth $753,028,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in PAYX. Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its position in Paychex by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 109,133 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $15,304,000 after purchasing an additional 6,096 shares during the last quarter. BLI Banque de Luxembourg Investments bought a new stake in Paychex during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,602,000. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in Paychex by 54.8% in the 4th quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 11,516 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,615,000 after purchasing an additional 4,076 shares in the last quarter. AXA S.A. grew its position in Paychex by 11.5% during the 4th quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 173,530 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $24,332,000 after purchasing an additional 17,954 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AlTi Global Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex during the fourth quarter worth approximately $397,000. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Paychex Trading Up 0.2 %

NASDAQ:PAYX traded up $0.32 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $151.65. 1,120,253 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,930,983. The company has a market capitalization of $54.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The company's 50 day moving average is $147.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $145.30. Paychex, Inc. has a twelve month low of $115.40 and a twelve month high of $158.37.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.01. Paychex had a net margin of 32.02% and a return on equity of 45.28%. The business had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.51 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.38 earnings per share. Paychex's revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be issued a $1.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 12th. This is a positive change from Paychex's previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.85%. Paychex's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 90.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on PAYX shares. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Paychex from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Paychex from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $145.00 to $158.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Cfra Research upgraded shares of Paychex to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $141.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 78,455 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,709,408.75. This represents a 4.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 11.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Paychex Company 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.