Man Group plc Sells 111,815 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Man Group plc cut its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 58.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 80,973 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 111,815 shares during the quarter. Man Group plc's holdings in Paychex were worth $11,354,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in PAYX. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $184,216,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Paychex by 16.9% during 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 last quarter. Amundi grew its holdings in shares of Paychex by 77.9% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,534,145 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $215,164,000 after purchasing an additional 672,010 shares during the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group grew its holdings in shares of Paychex by 86.5% during the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 1,355,713 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $189,746,000 after purchasing an additional 628,912 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Paychex by 30,382.8% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 568,809 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $79,758,000 after purchasing an additional 566,943 shares during the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Paychex Trading Down 0.1%

PAYX traded down $0.09 during trading on Friday, reaching $156.09. 1,085,442 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,926,113. Paychex, Inc. has a one year low of $115.40 and a one year high of $158.37. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $56.22 billion, a PE ratio of 32.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.91. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $148.37 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $146.25.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.51 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.38 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be issued a dividend of $1.08 per share. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.77%. This is a positive change from Paychex's previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 12th. Paychex's payout ratio is presently 90.00%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.25, for a total value of $544,762.50. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 78,455 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,709,408.75. This represents a 4.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 11.40% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on PAYX. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Paychex from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Paychex from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, March 31st. Cfra Research raised shares of Paychex to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $141.00.

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.