National Pension Service Buys 7,802 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

National Pension Service increased its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX – Get Rating) by 1.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 582,600 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,802 shares during the period. National Pension Service owned about 0.16% of Paychex worth $66,061,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of PAYX. Dean Investment Associates LLC raised its position in Paychex by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Dean Investment Associates LLC now owns 18,774 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,138,000 after purchasing an additional 233 shares during the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank raised its position in Paychex by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 221,127 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $25,177,000 after purchasing an additional 2,593 shares during the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. raised its position in Paychex by 13.6% during the 3rd quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 17,308 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,942,000 after purchasing an additional 2,066 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC raised its position in Paychex by 7.9% during the 3rd quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 7,663 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $859,000 after purchasing an additional 564 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Everence Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Paychex by 89.7% during the 3rd quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,324 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $710,000 after purchasing an additional 2,990 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.14% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Stock Performance

Paychex stock opened at $107.00 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The company has a market capitalization of $38.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.42, a PEG ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 0.98. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $114.67 and its 200 day moving average is $116.82. Paychex, Inc. has a twelve month low of $105.66 and a twelve month high of $141.92.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 22nd. The business services provider reported $0.99 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.17 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.18 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.50% and a net margin of 30.45%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.91 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, February 9th were paid a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 8th. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.95%. Paychex’s payout ratio is currently 78.02%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Paychex news, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 13,744 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.30, for a total transaction of $1,584,683.20. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 33,268 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,835,800.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 11.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on PAYX. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on Paychex from $123.00 to $116.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Paychex from $121.00 to $119.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on Paychex from $130.00 to $120.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 22nd. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Paychex from $130.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 23rd. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on Paychex from $110.00 to $105.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $123.69.

Paychex Company Profile

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Paychex, Inc engages in the provision of human capital management solutions for payroll, human resources, insurance and retirement for small and medium-sized businesses. Its solutions include payroll services, hiring services, business insurance, time and attendance, employee benefits, finance and payments, human resources services and startup services.