4,302 Shares in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Bought by S Bank Fund Management Ltd

Key Points

• S Bank Fund Management Ltd acquired a new stake in Paychex, Inc. valued at approximately $664,000 by purchasing 4,302 shares during the first quarter.
• Institutional investors collectively own 83.47% of Paychex's stock, with firms like Vanguard Group Inc. and Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increasing their stakes recently.
• Paychex recently declared a quarterly dividend of $1.08 per share, with an annualized yield of 3.2%, set to be paid on August 29th.

S Bank Fund Management Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 4,302 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $664,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in PAYX. Alpine Bank Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Paychex during the 1st quarter valued at about $34,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Paychex in the 1st quarter worth approximately $34,000. Tsfg LLC lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 122.3% in the 1st quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 229 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares during the period. Transce3nd LLC purchased a new position in shares of Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Finally, HWG Holdings LP purchased a new position in shares of Paychex in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $46,000. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group set a $140.00 price objective on Paychex and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. UBS Group dropped their price target on Paychex from $155.00 to $145.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Barclays set a $155.00 target price on Paychex and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on Paychex in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $160.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Paychex from $150.00 to $148.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Paychex presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $150.70.

Paychex Trading Up 0.6%

NASDAQ PAYX traded up $0.76 on Friday, reaching $138.25. The stock had a trading volume of 2,671,372 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,081,869. Paychex, Inc. has a 12-month low of $124.64 and a 12-month high of $161.24. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $145.72 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $148.16. The company has a quick ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $49.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.25, a P/E/G ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.91.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, June 25th. The business services provider reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.19. The firm 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 quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.12 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 21st will be paid a dividend of $1.08 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 21st. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. Paychex's dividend payout ratio is 94.53%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,370 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.92, for a total transaction of $1,755,550.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 81,755 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,602,669.60. This represents a 13.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 97,526 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.17, for a total transaction of $14,157,849.42. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman owned 446,917 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $64,878,940.89. The trade was a 17.91% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 11.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.