Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Purchases 46,944 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 13.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 394,107 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 46,944 shares during the quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. owned about 0.11% of Paychex worth $59,522,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in PAYX. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Paychex in the fourth quarter worth approximately $184,216,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Paychex by 20,236.7% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,153,089 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $177,899,000 after acquiring an additional 1,147,419 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 694,651 shares in the last quarter. Amundi increased its stake in shares of Paychex by 77.9% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,534,145 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $215,164,000 after acquiring an additional 672,010 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group increased its stake in Paychex by 86.5% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Paychex

In other news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.25, for a total transaction of $544,762.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 11.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Citigroup set a $158.00 price target on shares of Paychex and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays set a $155.00 target price on Paychex and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $165.00 target price on Paychex and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on Paychex from $156.00 to $152.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $140.00 price objective on Paychex and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have issued a hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $149.11.

Paychex Stock Up 2.1%

PAYX stock traded up $2.93 during trading on Friday, reaching $143.94. The stock had a trading volume of 3,849,840 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,951,103. Paychex, Inc. has a one year low of $115.40 and a one year high of $161.24. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10. The company's 50 day moving average is $151.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $147.76. The company has a market capitalization of $51.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.92.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, June 25th. The business services provider reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.19. The company had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.38 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.01% and a net margin of 29.75%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.12 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 29th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were given a dividend of $1.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.00%. This is a positive change from Paychex's previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Paychex's dividend payout ratio is presently 90.00%.

Paychex Company 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.