Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Position Raised by PNC Financial Services Group Inc.

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 694,922 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 19,431 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. owned 0.19% of Paychex worth $93,252,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PAYX. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in Paychex by 12.8% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 20,878,283 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,563,853,000 after purchasing an additional 2,373,894 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in shares of Paychex by 155.6% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,478,325 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $304,338,000 after buying an additional 1,508,681 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Paychex by 38,655.2% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 799,907 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $107,340,000 after buying an additional 797,843 shares in the last quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Paychex by 30.9% in the first quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 1,676,521 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $205,877,000 after buying an additional 395,343 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Paychex by 19.5% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,356,262 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $279,351,000 after buying an additional 384,184 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PAYX has been the topic of several research reports. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Paychex from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. UBS Group upped their price target on Paychex from $125.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Barclays upped their price target on Paychex from $118.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Paychex currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $131.62.

Paychex Trading Down 0.8 %

Paychex stock opened at $140.66 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $139.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $129.57. 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, Inc. has a 12 month low of $114.72 and a 12 month high of $150.71. The stock has a market cap of $50.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.99, a P/E/G ratio of 3.93 and a beta of 0.99.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 1st. The business services provider reported $1.16 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.02. Paychex had a net margin of 31.98% and a return on equity of 45.97%. The business had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.31 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.14 EPS. Paychex’s revenue was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 7th will be issued a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 83.58%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

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.