Berkeley Inc Sells 27,766 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Berkeley Inc decreased its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 50.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 27,470 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 27,766 shares during the period. Paychex makes up 2.0% of Berkeley Inc's holdings, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. Berkeley Inc's holdings in Paychex were worth $3,852,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 174,817 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its position in shares of Paychex by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 26,905,031 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $3,772,544,000 after acquiring an additional 166,155 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Paychex by 5.5% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Paychex by 1.3% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Paychex by 16.9% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on PAYX. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Paychex from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "hold" rating on shares of Paychex in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Paychex from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, March 31st. Cfra Research upgraded shares of Paychex to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Paychex from $145.00 to $158.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $141.00.

Insider Transactions at Paychex

In related news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 78,455 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,709,408.75. The trade was a 4.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 11.40% of the company's stock.

Paychex Trading Up 0.2%

PAYX traded up $0.24 during trading on Friday, hitting $157.66. 1,993,759 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,924,002. The firm has a market capitalization of $56.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.39. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $149.61 and a 200 day moving average of $146.59. Paychex, Inc. has a 12-month low of $115.40 and a 12-month high of $159.75.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last posted its 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 net margin of 32.02% and a return on equity of 45.28%. The firm had revenue of $1.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.51 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.38 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a $1.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This is a positive change from Paychex's previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.74%. Paychex's payout ratio is currently 90.00%.

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.