Loudon Investment Management LLC Grows Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Loudon Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 193.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,895 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 4,545 shares during the period. Loudon Investment Management LLC's holdings in Paychex were worth $1,064,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PAYX. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its position in Paychex by 118.5% in the 1st 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 lifted its stake in Paychex by 32.6% in the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 119,291 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $18,404,000 after acquiring an additional 29,320 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Paychex by 15.1% in the 1st 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 during the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 7.1% in the 1st 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. lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 581,529 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $81,542,000 after purchasing an additional 23,359 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PAYX has been the subject of several analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on Paychex in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. They set a "market perform" rating and a $160.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Paychex from $150.00 to $148.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 27th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Paychex from $155.00 to $145.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Cfra Research upgraded shares of Paychex to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Citigroup set a $158.00 target price on shares of Paychex and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $150.20.

Paychex Price Performance

PAYX traded up $1.06 on Friday, hitting $147.46. 341,474 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,141,355. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a current ratio of 1.28. The business's fifty day moving average is $150.56 and its 200 day moving average is $148.40. Paychex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $122.07 and a fifty-two week high of $161.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 0.88.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 25th. The business services provider reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.19. The firm had revenue of $1.43 billion during 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. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 21st will be paid a $1.08 dividend. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 21st. Paychex's payout ratio is 94.53%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 97,526 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.17, for a total transaction of $14,157,849.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman owned 446,917 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $64,878,940.89. This represents a 17.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,370 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 16th. The stock was 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 $11,602,669.60. This represents a 13.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 11.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.