Banque Cantonale Vaudoise Buys Shares of 13,905 Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Key Points

• Banque Cantonale Vaudoise acquired 13,905 shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ: PAYX) worth approximately $2.15 million in the first quarter.
• Analysts have set a target price for Paychex, with estimates ranging from $140.00 to $160.00, reflecting mixed outlooks on the stock's performance.
• Paychex recently declared a quarterly dividend of $1.08 per share, representing a yield of 2.96% and a significant dividend payout ratio of 94.53%.

Banque Cantonale Vaudoise acquired a new stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 13,905 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,145,000.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in PAYX. Summit Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Paychex by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Summit Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,027 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $467,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Equity Partners lifted its holdings in Paychex by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 7,623 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,176,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Paychex by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,192 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $492,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Asset Dedication LLC lifted its holdings in Paychex by 12.1% during the 1st quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 711 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $110,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators lifted its holdings in Paychex by 7.6% during the 1st quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 1,148 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $177,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Paychex news, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 97,526 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.17, for a total value of $14,157,849.42. Following the transaction, the chairman owned 446,917 shares in the company, valued at $64,878,940.89. The trade was a 17.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,370 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.92, for a total value of $1,755,550.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 81,755 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,602,669.60. This represents a 13.14% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 11.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PAYX traded down $4.99 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $139.34. The company had a trading volume of 4,235,395 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,015,482. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a current ratio of 1.28. Paychex, Inc. has a one year low of $122.07 and a one year high of $161.24. The firm has a market cap of $50.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.49, a PEG ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.91. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $149.17 and its 200 day simple moving average is $148.60.

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

Paychex Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Monday, July 21st will be given a $1.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 21st. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. Paychex's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 94.53%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PAYX has been the topic of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Paychex from $150.00 to $148.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Paychex from $140.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Citigroup set a $158.00 price objective on Paychex and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Paychex from $156.00 to $152.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Barclays set a $155.00 price objective on Paychex and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $150.20.

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.