Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Acquires 6,020 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 0.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 979,513 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,020 shares during the quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD’s holdings in Paychex were worth $120,286,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PAYX. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in Paychex by 83.4% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 52,459 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,248,000 after purchasing an additional 23,862 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in Paychex by 44.8% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,513 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $174,000 after purchasing an additional 468 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its stake in Paychex by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 6,029 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $722,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Realta Investment Advisors increased its stake in Paychex by 10.1% in the 4th quarter. Realta Investment Advisors now owns 5,075 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $605,000 after acquiring an additional 467 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd increased its stake in Paychex by 9.3% in the 4th quarter. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd now owns 3,506 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $418,000 after acquiring an additional 298 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on PAYX. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Paychex from $125.00 to $122.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $115.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Paychex from $111.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Paychex from $120.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 1st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $130.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Paychex currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $122.46.

Paychex Price Performance

PAYX remained flat at $125.75 during trading hours on Monday. The company had a trading volume of 231,718 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,849,862. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $121.91 and its 200-day moving average price is $121.84. Paychex, Inc. has a one year low of $106.27 and a one year high of $129.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.93, a PEG ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 1.00.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 26th. The business services provider reported $1.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.02. Paychex had a return on equity of 46.63% and a net margin of 32.03%. The company had revenue of $1.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.29 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.97 EPS. Paychex’s revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 28th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.12%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 8th. Paychex’s payout ratio is currently 83.94%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Paychex news, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 19,709 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.55, for a total value of $2,454,755.95. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 5,383 shares in the company, valued at approximately $670,452.65. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 8,954 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.60, for a total value of $1,106,714.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 79,232 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,793,075.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 19,709 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.55, for a total value of $2,454,755.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $670,452.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 142,823 shares of company stock worth $16,977,648. 11.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Paychex Profile

Paychex, Inc provides integrated human capital management solutions for human resources (HR), payroll, benefits, 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.