Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Buys 46,549 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 5.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 885,406 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 46,549 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned approximately 0.25% of Paychex worth $136,600,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of PAYX. Tsfg LLC increased its position in Paychex by 122.3% in the first quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 229 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 126 shares during the last quarter. Vista Investment Partners II LLC grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Vista Investment Partners II LLC now owns 17,643 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $2,722,000 after acquiring an additional 257 shares during the period. BSW Wealth Partners grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 10.6% during the 1st quarter. BSW Wealth Partners now owns 2,163 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $334,000 after acquiring an additional 207 shares during the period. 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Paychex in the 1st quarter worth about $708,000. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Paychex by 13.5% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 394,107 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $59,522,000 after acquiring an additional 46,944 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.25, for a total value of $544,762.50. Following the transaction, the director now 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 11.40% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on PAYX. Citigroup set a $158.00 target price on shares of Paychex and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Paychex from $150.00 to $148.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Paychex from $155.00 to $145.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group set a $140.00 target price on shares of Paychex and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $165.00 price target on Paychex and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have assigned a hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Paychex has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $149.11.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $143.94 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $151.73 and a 200 day moving average of $147.81. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10. The stock has a market cap of $51.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.50, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.92. Paychex, Inc. has a 12 month low of $115.40 and a 12 month high of $161.24.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 25th. The business services provider reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.19. Paychex had a net margin of 29.75% and a return on equity of 45.01%. The firm had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.38 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.12 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a $1.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.00%. This is a boost from Paychex's previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Paychex's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 90.00%.

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.

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