Truist Financial Corp Raises Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Truist Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 10.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 207,452 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 19,997 shares during the quarter. Truist Financial Corp owned about 0.06% of Paychex worth $32,006,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PAYX. Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Paychex by 220.7% during the fourth quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 186 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Paychex during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Paychex during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Alpine Bank Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Paychex during the first quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Paychex in the first quarter valued at about $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company's stock.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of PAYX stock traded down $0.63 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $145.31. 2,792,887 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,173,957. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $152.08 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $148.12. Paychex, Inc. has a 1-year low of $116.57 and a 1-year high of $161.24. 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 price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.88.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 25th. The business services provider reported $1.19 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.38 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.12 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.97%. Paychex's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 94.53%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paychex

In other news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of the firm's 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 transaction, the director directly owned 78,455 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,709,408.75. This trade represents a 4.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 11.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PAYX has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Paychex from $156.00 to $152.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Cfra Research upgraded shares of Paychex to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $165.00 price objective on shares of Paychex and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Barclays set a $155.00 price objective on shares of Paychex and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Paychex from $150.00 to $148.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $150.20.

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.