Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Shares Purchased by Unigestion Holding SA

Unigestion Holding SA raised its holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 12.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 281,761 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 30,859 shares during the period. Paychex comprises about 2.5% of Unigestion Holding SA's holdings, making the stock its 9th largest position. Unigestion Holding SA owned 0.08% of Paychex worth $43,436,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of PAYX. Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Paychex by 220.7% in the fourth quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 186 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new stake in Paychex in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Paychex in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new stake in Paychex in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Avion Wealth raised its stake in Paychex by 469.8% in the fourth quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 245 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paychex

In other news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of Paychex 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 sale, the director now directly owns 78,455 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,709,408.75. This trade represents a 4.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 11.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Paychex Stock Performance

PAYX traded down $0.02 during trading on Thursday, reaching $159.31. The company's stock had a trading volume of 956,883 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,907,103. Paychex, Inc. has a 52-week low of $115.40 and a 52-week high of $162.13. The company's fifty day moving average price is $150.05 and its 200-day moving average price is $146.87. The company has a market capitalization of $57.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.91. 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 (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.51 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.38 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Paychex from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Paychex from $148.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Tuesday. Cfra Research raised Paychex to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Paychex in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on Paychex from $145.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report 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 a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $142.55.

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.