XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 9,168 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,414,000.
A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 118.5% during the 1st quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 136,876 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $21,117,000 after acquiring an additional 74,245 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 32.6% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 119,291 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $18,404,000 after acquiring an additional 29,320 shares during the period. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 15.1% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,419 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $990,000 after acquiring an additional 843 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 7.1% during the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,607 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,174,000 after acquiring an additional 502 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 31.8% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,474 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,153,000 after acquiring an additional 1,804 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company's stock.
Analyst Ratings Changes
A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on PAYX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Paychex from $140.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. 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 research note on Friday, June 27th. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of Paychex in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. They set a "market perform" rating and a $160.00 price objective for the company. Barclays set a $155.00 price objective on shares of Paychex and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Finally, Citigroup set a $158.00 price objective on shares of Paychex and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Paychex presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $150.20.
Read Our Latest Stock Report on Paychex
Paychex Stock Down 3.5%
Paychex stock traded down $4.99 during trading on Friday, reaching $139.34. 4,235,395 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,015,482. The company's 50-day moving average is $149.17 and its two-hundred day moving average is $148.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a current ratio of 1.28. Paychex, Inc. has a 52-week low of $122.07 and a 52-week high of $161.24. The firm has a market cap of $50.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.49, a PEG ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.91.
Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 25th. The business services provider reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting 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 analysts' expectations of $1.38 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.12 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.
Paychex Dividend Announcement
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 21st will be issued a $1.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 21st. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. Paychex's payout ratio is currently 94.53%.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other Paychex news, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 97,526 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.17, for a total value of $14,157,849.42. Following the transaction, the chairman owned 446,917 shares in the company, valued at $64,878,940.89. The trade was a 17.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,370 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.92, for a total transaction of $1,755,550.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 81,755 shares in the company, valued at $11,602,669.60. This represents a 13.14% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 11.40% of the company's stock.
About Paychex
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Free Report)
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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