Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC Has $24.35 Million Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 11.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 204,392 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 21,071 shares during the period. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC owned approximately 0.06% of Paychex worth $24,345,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fairfield Bush & CO. purchased a new position in shares of Paychex in the first quarter valued at $269,000. Vontobel Holding Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 35.7% in the first quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 5,455 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $747,000 after purchasing an additional 1,436 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 118.3% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 91,985 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $12,554,000 after purchasing an additional 49,851 shares during the period. Prudential PLC purchased a new position in shares of Paychex in the first quarter valued at $1,019,000. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new position in shares of Paychex in the first quarter valued at $237,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on PAYX. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Paychex from $108.00 to $111.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of Paychex from $122.00 to $121.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and set a $130.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research note on Wednesday. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $125.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 26th. Finally, Evercore ISI reiterated an "in-line" rating and set a $118.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Paychex currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $123.00.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of Paychex stock traded up $2.39 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $122.38. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,052,156 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,993,403. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.24. Paychex, Inc. has a one year low of $104.09 and a one year high of $129.70. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $121.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $119.66. The stock has a market cap of $44.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 0.93.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 2nd. The business services provider reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.01. Paychex had a net margin of 31.86% and a return on equity of 46.14%. The business had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.46 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.29 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 13th were issued a $0.89 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 12th. This represents a $3.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.91%. Paychex's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.56%.

Paychex declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Friday, January 19th that authorizes the company to buyback $400.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the business services provider to reacquire up to 0.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 15,481 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.53, for a total value of $1,865,924.93. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 82,690 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,966,625.70. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 11.50% of the company's stock.

Paychex Company Profile

Paychex, Inc provides integrated human capital management solutions for human resources (HR), payroll, benefits, 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.