Nuveen Asset Management LLC Reduces Stock Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Nuveen Asset Management LLC reduced its position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 1.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 861,191 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 13,634 shares during the period. Nuveen Asset Management LLC owned 0.24% of Paychex worth $120,756,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Maytus Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Paychex during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,804,000. Measured Risk Portfolios Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Paychex in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $245,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its position in shares of Paychex by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 288,890 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $40,508,000 after purchasing an additional 6,656 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Paychex by 6.7% in the fourth quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 51,820 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $7,265,000 after purchasing an additional 3,276 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Paychex in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,203,000. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insider Transactions at Paychex

In related news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of Paychex 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 in the company, valued at $11,709,408.75. The trade was a 4.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 11.40% of the company's stock.

Paychex Trading Down 0.3%

NASDAQ:PAYX traded down $0.52 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $157.67. 1,466,973 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,925,567. Paychex, Inc. has a twelve month low of $115.40 and a twelve month high of $158.40. The business has a 50-day moving average of $147.52 and a two-hundred day moving average of $145.89. The company has a market capitalization of $56.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.19, a PEG ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 EPS 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 company had revenue of $1.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.51 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.38 EPS. Paychex's revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be paid a $1.08 dividend. This is an increase 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 2.74%. Paychex's payout ratio is 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.