Vestcor Inc Buys 700 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Vestcor Inc increased its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 0.9% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 80,365 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 700 shares during the period. Vestcor Inc’s holdings in Paychex were worth $10,784,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PAYX. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 797,843 shares during the period. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 46.2% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,748,485 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $234,627,000 after buying an additional 552,540 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew 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 buying an additional 384,184 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Paychex by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 9,524,870 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,278,142,000 after acquiring an additional 345,682 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James & Associates lifted its position in Paychex by 27.4% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 988,417 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $132,636,000 after acquiring an additional 212,700 shares during the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on PAYX shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Paychex from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Citigroup raised their target price on Paychex from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Barclays upped their price target on Paychex from $118.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $131.62.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paychex

In other Paychex news, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.35, for a total value of $1,852,685.25. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 26,428 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,515 shares in the company, valued at $2,018,020.45. This represents a 64.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 54,174 shares of company stock worth $7,577,231 over the last three months. Company insiders own 11.40% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of PAYX stock opened at $140.95 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $142.58 and a 200-day moving average of $131.57. The stock has a market cap of $50.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.05, a P/E/G ratio of 3.92 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 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 1st. The business services provider reported $1.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 31.98% and a return on equity of 45.97%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.14 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 7th were paid a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.78%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 7th. Paychex’s dividend 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.