Deutsche Bank AG Buys 124,016 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Deutsche Bank AG lifted its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 11.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,214,754 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 124,016 shares during the quarter. Deutsche Bank AG owned about 0.34% of Paychex worth $170,333,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Monument Capital Management lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Monument Capital Management now owns 1,714 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $240,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC lifted its position in Paychex by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 2,881 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $423,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Emerald Advisors LLC lifted its position in Paychex by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Emerald Advisors LLC now owns 3,017 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $423,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Weaver Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Paychex by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Weaver Capital Management LLC now owns 2,121 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $297,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Adero Partners LLC lifted its position in Paychex by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Adero Partners LLC now owns 2,391 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $335,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Cfra Research upgraded Paychex to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Barclays upped their price objective 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. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Paychex from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $141.00.

Paychex Price Performance

NASDAQ:PAYX traded up $1.97 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $153.98. The company had a trading volume of 528,005 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,924,120. The firm has a market capitalization of $55.46 billion, a PE ratio of 32.41, a PEG ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.91. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $147.07 and a two-hundred day moving average of $145.49. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. Paychex, Inc. has a one year low of $115.40 and a one year high of $158.37.

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

Paychex Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be paid a dividend of $1.08 per share. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.81%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 12th. This is a positive change from Paychex's previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Paychex's dividend payout ratio is 90.00%.

Insider Activity

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

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.