DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale Acquires 4,751 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 1.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 499,337 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 4,751 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale owned approximately 0.14% of Paychex worth $74,276,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Paychex by 20,236.7% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,153,089 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $177,899,000 after purchasing an additional 1,147,419 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Paychex by 16.9% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,807,554 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $674,115,000 after purchasing an additional 694,651 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group increased its position in shares of 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 worth $189,746,000 after purchasing an additional 628,912 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Paychex in the fourth quarter worth $78,215,000. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Paychex by 107.0% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 927,590 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $130,066,000 after purchasing an additional 479,488 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PAYX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup set a $158.00 price target on Paychex and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Barclays set a $155.00 price objective on Paychex and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on Paychex in a research note on Thursday. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $160.00 price objective on the stock. Cfra Research raised Paychex to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Paychex from $150.00 to $148.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $150.20.

Paychex Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of Paychex stock traded down $0.63 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $145.31. The company had a trading volume of 2,792,891 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,978,184. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $152.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $148.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.39. The firm has a market cap of $52.34 billion, a PE ratio of 31.80, a P/E/G ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.88. Paychex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $116.57 and a fifty-two week high of $161.24.

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 company had revenue of $1.43 billion for 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 previous year, the firm earned $1.12 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 21st will be issued a $1.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 21st. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.97%. Paychex's payout ratio is currently 94.53%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Paychex news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.25, for a total value of $544,762.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 78,455 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,709,408.75. The trade was a 4.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 11.40% of the company's stock.

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.