Bridgewater Advisors Inc. Takes Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Bridgewater Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 2,434 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $356,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its stake in shares of Paychex by 118.5% during the first quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 136,876 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $21,117,000 after purchasing an additional 74,245 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Paychex by 32.6% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 119,291 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $18,404,000 after purchasing an additional 29,320 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Paychex by 15.1% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,419 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $990,000 after purchasing an additional 843 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Paychex by 7.1% during the first quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,607 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,174,000 after purchasing an additional 502 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Paychex by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 581,529 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $81,542,000 after purchasing an additional 23,359 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Paychex Trading Up 0.1%

PAYX traded up $0.17 during trading on Friday, reaching $143.46. The company had a trading volume of 2,487,294 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,978,751. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $151.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $148.21. The company has a market cap of $51.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.39, a PEG ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 0.88. Paychex, Inc. has a 12-month low of $121.33 and a 12-month high of $161.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.28.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 25th. The business services provider reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.19. The firm had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.38 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.01% and a net margin of 29.75%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.12 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current 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 paid a $1.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 21st. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.01%. Paychex's dividend payout ratio is currently 94.53%.

Insider Transactions at Paychex

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 transaction of $14,157,849.42. Following the transaction, the chairman owned 446,917 shares of the company's stock, valued at $64,878,940.89. The trade was a 17.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 81,755 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,602,669.60. This trade represents a 13.14% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 11.40% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PAYX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $140.00 to $148.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Barclays set a $155.00 price objective on shares of Paychex and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of Paychex in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $160.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup set a $158.00 price target on shares of Paychex and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Paychex from $150.00 to $148.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $150.20.

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.