E Fund Management Co. Ltd. Boosts Stock Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Key Points

• E Fund Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Paychex, Inc. by 97.0% in the first quarter, owning a total of 9,978 shares valued at approximately $1.54 million.
• Institutional investors collectively own 83.47% of Paychex stock, with significant increases in holdings reported by Vanguard Group and Charles Schwab Investment Management.
• Paychex recently announced a quarterly dividend of $1.08, resulting in an annualized dividend of $4.32 and a yield of 3.1%.

E Fund Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 97.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,978 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 4,913 shares during the period. E Fund Management Co. Ltd.'s holdings in Paychex were worth $1,539,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of PAYX. Alpine Bank Wealth Management bought a new stake in Paychex in the 1st quarter valued at about $34,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Paychex during the 1st quarter worth approximately $34,000. Tsfg LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 122.3% during the 1st quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 229 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 126 shares during the period. Transce3nd LLC acquired a new position in Paychex during the 4th quarter worth approximately $44,000. Finally, HWG Holdings LP acquired a new position in Paychex during the 1st quarter worth approximately $46,000. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on PAYX shares. Jefferies Financial Group set a $140.00 price objective on shares of Paychex and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Paychex from $148.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Thursday. Citigroup set a $158.00 target price on shares of Paychex and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Barclays set a $155.00 target price on shares of Paychex and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of Paychex in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. They set a "market perform" rating and a $160.00 target price on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $150.70.

Paychex Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of Paychex stock traded up $0.76 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $138.25. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,671,372 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,081,869. Paychex, Inc. has a one year low of $124.64 and a one year high of $161.24. The company has a market capitalization of $49.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.25, a P/E/G ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.91. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $145.29 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $148.11. 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 (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 29.75% and a return on equity of 45.01%. The company had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.38 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.12 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The company 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 dividend of $1.08 per share. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 21st. Paychex's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 94.53%.

Insider Transactions at Paychex

In other Paychex news, 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 81,755 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,602,669.60. The trade was a 13.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, 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 completion of the sale, the chairman directly owned 446,917 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,878,940.89. This represents a 17.91% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 11.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.