Norinchukin Bank The Acquires 3,041 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Norinchukin Bank The grew its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 16.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,054 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 3,041 shares during the quarter. Norinchukin Bank The's holdings in Paychex were worth $2,952,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,521,025 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $4,419,878,000 after acquiring an additional 174,817 shares during the period. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in shares of Paychex by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 26,905,031 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $3,772,544,000 after buying an additional 166,155 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Paychex by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,044,631 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,408,458,000 after acquiring an additional 519,761 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,541,034 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,339,463,000 after acquiring an additional 126,962 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Paychex by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,104,626 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $575,551,000 after acquiring an additional 208,130 shares during the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Paychex Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of PAYX stock traded down $1.55 on Friday, hitting $142.66. The stock had a trading volume of 549,927 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,913,618. The firm has a market cap of $51.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.06, a PEG ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.88. Paychex, Inc. has a twelve month low of $115.40 and a twelve month high of $158.37. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $147.56 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $144.72.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.01. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.28% and a net margin of 32.02%. The business had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.51 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.38 EPS. Paychex's revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup raised their target price on Paychex from $145.00 to $158.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Cfra Research raised Paychex to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Paychex from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Paychex currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $141.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 11.40% of the company's stock.

About Paychex

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.