Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Shares Bought by Truist Financial Corp

Truist Financial Corp lifted its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 10.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 207,452 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing 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 reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Paychex by 220.7% in the fourth quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 186 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex in the first quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Alpine Bank Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex in the first quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Tsfg LLC grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 122.3% in the first quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 229 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company's stock.

Paychex Stock Down 1.0%

NASDAQ PAYX traded down $1.46 during trading on Monday, reaching $145.67. 3,435,927 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,966,039. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $152.10 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $148.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.28. Paychex, Inc. has a 1 year low of $115.40 and a 1 year high of $161.24. The stock has a market cap of $52.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 0.88.

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, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.19. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.01% and a net margin of 29.75%. The business had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.38 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.12 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were given a dividend of $1.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.97%. This is a boost from Paychex's previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Paychex's payout ratio is 94.53%.

Insider Activity at Paychex

In other news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was 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 in the company, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 11.40% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on PAYX shares. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $165.00 price objective on Paychex and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Paychex from $156.00 to $152.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Cfra Research upgraded Paychex to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Paychex from $140.00 to $148.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $140.00 target price on Paychex and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have issued a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Paychex has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $149.11.

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.