Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV Reduces Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV cut its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 4.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 52,224 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 2,257 shares during the quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV's holdings in Paychex were worth $7,323,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at $184,216,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Paychex by 16.9% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,807,554 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $674,115,000 after acquiring an additional 694,651 shares during the period. Amundi increased its stake in shares of Paychex by 77.9% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,534,145 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $215,164,000 after purchasing an additional 672,010 shares in the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group raised its holdings in Paychex by 86.5% in the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 1,355,713 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $189,746,000 after purchasing an additional 628,912 shares during the period. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Paychex by 30,382.8% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 568,809 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $79,758,000 after buying an additional 566,943 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on PAYX. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Paychex from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Cfra Research upgraded shares of Paychex to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Paychex from $145.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. UBS Group increased their target price on Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $141.00.

Insider Activity at Paychex

In other Paychex news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.25, for a total value of $544,762.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 78,455 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,709,408.75. This trade represents a 4.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 11.40% of the company's stock.

Paychex Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of PAYX stock traded down $0.03 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $151.30. The company had a trading volume of 366,310 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,922,738. Paychex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $115.40 and a fifty-two week high of $158.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.39. The company's fifty day moving average is $147.09 and its 200 day moving average is $145.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $54.50 billion, a PE ratio of 31.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.91.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.51 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.38 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be paid 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.86%. Paychex's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 90.00%.

Paychex Company 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.