Czech National Bank Has $11.36 Million Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Czech National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 6.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 73,603 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 4,153 shares during the quarter. Czech National Bank's holdings in Paychex were worth $11,355,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 0.6% during the 4th 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 during the period. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 0.6% during 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 acquiring an additional 166,155 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 5.5% during 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 acquiring an additional 519,761 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in 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 valued at $1,339,463,000 after purchasing an additional 126,962 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Paychex by 16.9% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,807,554 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $674,115,000 after purchasing an additional 694,651 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Paychex

In other Paychex news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company's stock, valued at $11,709,408.75. This represents a 4.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 11.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of Paychex stock traded down $0.02 during trading on Thursday, reaching $159.31. 958,163 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,910,074. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.39. Paychex, Inc. has a 1-year low of $115.40 and a 1-year high of $159.93. The company has a market cap of $57.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.54, a PEG ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.91. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $150.16 and its 200 day moving average price is $146.99.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.01. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.28% and a net margin of 32.02%. The company had revenue of $1.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.51 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.38 EPS. Paychex's revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a dividend of $1.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.71%. This is a boost from Paychex's previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Paychex's payout ratio is 90.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on PAYX. Citigroup boosted their price target on Paychex from $145.00 to $158.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "hold" rating on shares of Paychex in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Barclays boosted their price target on Paychex from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Paychex from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Paychex has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $142.55.

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.