Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 4.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,619,355 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 297,844 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned approximately 1.84% of Paychex worth $740,507,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in shares of Paychex by 27.4% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 11,757,155 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,347,252,000 after acquiring an additional 2,528,158 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Paychex by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,982,029 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $913,599,000 after acquiring an additional 62,739 shares during the period. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich grew its holdings in Paychex by 98,060.5% during the 2nd quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 6,093,804 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $681,714,000 after purchasing an additional 6,087,596 shares in the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Paychex by 102,768.9% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,537,548 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $524,359,000 after purchasing an additional 4,533,137 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC grew its holdings in Paychex by 56.8% during the 1st quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,380,489 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $501,960,000 after purchasing an additional 1,587,495 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on PAYX shares. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 28th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Paychex in a report on Thursday, October 5th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Argus raised their price objective on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $130.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 3rd. Wedbush reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $115.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a report on Tuesday, September 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Paychex from $114.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Paychex currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $121.63.

Paychex Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $116.26 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $42.00 billion, a PE ratio of 26.36, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.97. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $115.66 and its 200 day moving average price is $115.73. Paychex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $104.09 and a fifty-two week high of $129.70. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 27th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.28 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 31.40% and a return on equity of 46.51%. Paychex’s quarterly revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.03 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 28th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 14th will be given a $0.89 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 13th. This represents a $3.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.06%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 80.73%.

Insider Activity at Paychex

In other Paychex news, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 41,329 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.79, for a total transaction of $4,785,484.91. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 19,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,292,642. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 11.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Paychex Profile

Paychex, Inc provides integrated human capital management solutions for human resources (HR), payroll, benefits, 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.