Arizona State Retirement System Purchases 2,471 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Arizona State Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 2.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 94,994 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 2,471 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System's holdings in Paychex were worth $14,656,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Paychex by 20,236.7% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,153,089 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $177,899,000 after acquiring an additional 1,147,419 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 16.9% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,807,554 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $674,115,000 after buying an additional 694,651 shares during the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group raised its stake in Paychex by 86.5% in the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 1,355,713 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $189,746,000 after purchasing an additional 628,912 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Paychex in the 4th quarter worth about $78,215,000. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in Paychex by 107.0% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 927,590 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $130,066,000 after purchasing an additional 479,488 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Paychex news, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 97,526 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.17, for a total transaction of $14,157,849.42. Following the transaction, the chairman owned 446,917 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,878,940.89. This represents a 17.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 11.40% of the company's stock.

Paychex Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of Paychex stock traded up $1.57 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $142.25. 1,760,778 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,982,569. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.39. Paychex, Inc. has a 1-year low of $121.33 and a 1-year high of $161.24. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $151.65 and a 200-day moving average price of $148.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.24 billion, a PE ratio of 31.13, a P/E/G ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.88.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, June 25th. The business services provider reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.19. Paychex had a net margin of 29.75% and a return on equity of 45.01%. The company had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.38 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.12 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 21st will be issued a dividend of $1.08 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 21st. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.04%. Paychex's payout ratio is 94.53%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on PAYX shares. Citigroup set a $158.00 target price on shares of Paychex and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Barclays set a $155.00 target price on shares of Paychex and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of Paychex in a report on Thursday, July 10th. They set a "market perform" rating and a $160.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $165.00 price target on shares of Paychex and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Paychex from $155.00 to $145.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Paychex has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $150.20.

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.