Principal Financial Group Inc. Buys 9,994 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 2.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 430,113 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 9,994 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.12% of Paychex worth $66,358,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in Paychex by 26.3% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 5,710 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $801,000 after purchasing an additional 1,190 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its position in Paychex by 120.0% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 6,936 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $973,000 after purchasing an additional 3,783 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Paychex in the 4th quarter worth $73,000. Assetmark Inc. grew its position in Paychex by 9.4% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 10,677 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,497,000 after purchasing an additional 916 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its position in Paychex by 117.4% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,057 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $569,000 after purchasing an additional 2,191 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on PAYX shares. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Paychex from $156.00 to $152.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Paychex from $155.00 to $145.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Paychex from $150.00 to $148.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Paychex from $140.00 to $148.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, Cfra Research upgraded shares of Paychex to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Paychex currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $149.11.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of PAYX traded up $1.06 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $147.02. 1,539,975 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,960,138. Paychex, Inc. has a 52 week low of $115.40 and a 52 week high of $161.24. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $152.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $148.04. The firm has a market cap of $52.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, June 25th. The business services provider reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.19. The company had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.38 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 29.75% and a return on equity of 45.01%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.12 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a dividend of $1.08 per share. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This is a boost from Paychex's previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Paychex's payout ratio is presently 94.53%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paychex

In other Paychex news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director owned 78,455 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,709,408.75. The trade was a 4.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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.