Asset Management One Co. Ltd. Grows Stock Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 5.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 145,043 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 7,706 shares during the quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd.'s holdings in Paychex were worth $22,377,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Paychex by 0.6% during 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 buying an additional 174,817 shares during the period. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 26,905,031 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $3,772,544,000 after purchasing an additional 166,155 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,044,631 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,408,458,000 after purchasing an additional 519,761 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,541,034 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,339,463,000 after purchasing an additional 126,962 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings 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 currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Paychex

In other news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was 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 owns 78,455 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,709,408.75. This trade represents a 4.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 11.40% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on PAYX. Citigroup set a $158.00 price objective on Paychex and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "equal weight" rating on shares of Paychex in a research note on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Paychex in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $143.36.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PAYX opened at $137.94 on Thursday. Paychex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $115.40 and a fifty-two week high of $161.24. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $151.83 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $147.75. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The firm has a market cap of $49.68 billion, a PE ratio of 28.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.92.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 25th. The business services provider reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.19. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.30% and a net margin of 31.99%. The firm had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.38 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.12 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect 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 was paid on Thursday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were given a $1.08 dividend. This is a positive change from Paychex's previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.13%. Paychex's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 90.00%.

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.

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