MWA Asset Management Purchases 147 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

MWA Asset Management grew its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 3.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,931 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 147 shares during the period. MWA Asset Management’s holdings in Paychex were worth $528,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in PAYX. Czech National Bank lifted its stake in Paychex by 8.3% in the second quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 61,049 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,238,000 after buying an additional 4,703 shares during the period. BDF Gestion acquired a new position in shares of Paychex during the 2nd quarter valued at $2,796,000. PGGM Investments boosted its stake in Paychex by 57.7% during the second quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 21,703 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,573,000 after acquiring an additional 7,943 shares in the last quarter. DNB Asset Management AS grew its holdings in Paychex by 6.6% in the second quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 64,580 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,657,000 after purchasing an additional 4,001 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James & Associates increased its stake in Paychex by 27.4% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 988,417 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $132,636,000 after purchasing an additional 212,700 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Paychex

In other news, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 26,428 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.03, for a total value of $3,674,284.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 14,515 shares in the company, valued at $2,018,020.45. This trade represents a 64.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.35, for a total transaction of $1,852,685.25. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 17,362 shares in the company, valued at $2,471,480.70. The trade was a 42.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 54,174 shares of company stock worth $7,577,231. Insiders own 11.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Paychex from $118.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Paychex from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Paychex from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Paychex currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $131.62.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PAYX opened at $140.66 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $139.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $129.57. The company has a market capitalization of $50.62 billion, a PE ratio of 29.99, a PEG ratio of 3.93 and a beta of 0.99. Paychex, Inc. has a twelve month low of $114.72 and a twelve month high of $150.71. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 1st. The business services provider reported $1.16 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.31 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.97% and a net margin of 31.98%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.14 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.98 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.79%. Paychex’s payout ratio is currently 83.58%.

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.