Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Shares Purchased by Capital International Sarl

Capital International Sarl lifted its position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 37.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,794 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 1,845 shares during the period. Capital International Sarl's holdings in Paychex were worth $953,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PAYX. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Paychex during the 4th quarter valued at $184,216,000. Amundi increased its position in shares of Paychex by 77.9% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,534,145 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $215,164,000 after buying an additional 672,010 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its holdings in Paychex by 86.5% in the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 1,355,713 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $189,746,000 after buying an additional 628,912 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in Paychex by 30,382.8% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 568,809 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $79,758,000 after acquiring an additional 566,943 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Paychex during the 4th quarter worth approximately $78,215,000. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Paychex Stock Down 0.8 %

NASDAQ PAYX traded down $1.21 on Friday, reaching $143.00. 480,679 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,913,074. Paychex, Inc. has a 12 month low of $115.40 and a 12 month 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. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $147.56 and a 200-day moving average price of $144.72. The company has a market cap of $51.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.05, a PEG ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.88.

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

Insider Activity at Paychex

In other news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.25, for a total transaction of $544,762.50. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 11.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on PAYX shares. UBS Group lifted their price target on Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Cfra Research raised Paychex to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Paychex from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Paychex from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Paychex has a consensus 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.