The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Sells 2,612 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lowered its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 1.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 239,085 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 2,612 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned approximately 0.07% of Paychex worth $33,524,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Paychex by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,521,025 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $4,419,878,000 after purchasing an additional 174,817 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 166,155 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 519,761 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Paychex by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,541,034 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,339,463,000 after purchasing an additional 126,962 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Paychex by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,104,626 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $575,551,000 after buying an additional 208,130 shares during the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PAYX has been the subject of several recent research reports. Cfra Research upgraded Paychex to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Paychex from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on Paychex from $145.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Paychex has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $141.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Paychex Stock Performance

PAYX traded up $1.07 on Wednesday, reaching $150.09. The company had a trading volume of 310,189 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,918,736. The stock has a market cap of $54.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.55, a P/E/G ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.91. 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, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $115.40 and a fifty-two week high of $158.37. The company's fifty day moving average is $147.16 and its 200 day moving average is $145.09.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.51 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.28% and a net margin of 32.02%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.38 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be issued a $1.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 12th. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.88%. This is an increase from Paychex's previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Paychex's payout ratio is currently 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.