Intech Investment Management LLC Has $3.92 Million Stock Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Intech Investment Management LLC cut its holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 44.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 29,239 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 23,584 shares during the quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $3,924,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 38,655.2% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 799,907 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $107,340,000 after purchasing an additional 797,843 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Paychex by 19.5% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,356,262 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $279,351,000 after purchasing an additional 384,184 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 27.4% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 988,417 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $132,636,000 after buying an additional 212,700 shares during the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. increased its holdings in shares of Paychex by 175.7% during the second quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 331,115 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $39,257,000 after buying an additional 211,010 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Guinness Asset Management LTD lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 11.4% in the 2nd quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 1,499,040 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $177,687,000 after acquiring an additional 153,220 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on PAYX. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Paychex from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Paychex from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $131.62.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of PAYX opened at $144.46 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $51.99 billion, a PE ratio of 30.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.87 and a beta of 0.99. Paychex, Inc. has a 52-week low of $114.72 and a 52-week high of $150.71. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $140.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $129.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 1.38.

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

Paychex Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 7th will be given a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.71%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 7th. Paychex’s payout ratio is 83.58%.

About Paychex

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.