Axa S.A. Acquires 17,954 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

AXA S.A. grew its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 11.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 173,530 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 17,954 shares during the period. AXA S.A.'s holdings in Paychex were worth $24,332,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Paychex by 220.7% during the 4th quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 186 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new position in shares of Paychex in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Paychex in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new stake in Paychex in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Avion Wealth raised its stake in Paychex by 469.8% during the fourth quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 245 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Paychex news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.25, for a total value of $544,762.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 78,455 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,709,408.75. This represents a 4.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 11.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Paychex from $145.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Barclays raised their price objective on Paychex from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Finally, Cfra Research raised Paychex to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $141.00.

Paychex Trading Up 0.2 %

Paychex stock traded up $0.32 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $151.65. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,120,253 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,930,983. Paychex, Inc. has a one year low of $115.40 and a one year high of $158.37. The stock has a market cap of $54.62 billion, a PE ratio of 31.93, a P/E/G ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a 50 day moving average of $147.08 and a 200-day moving average of $145.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.39.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.51 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 32.02% and a return on equity of 45.28%. The firm's revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.38 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th will be issued a $1.08 dividend. This is a positive change from Paychex's previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 12th. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.85%. Paychex's payout ratio is presently 90.00%.

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.