Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Acquires 13,300 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 367,609 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,300 shares during the quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. owned 0.10% of Paychex worth $41,124,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Shelton Capital Management raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 2.7% in the second quarter. Shelton Capital Management now owns 31,754 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,552,000 after acquiring an additional 847 shares in the last quarter. JGP Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 2.5% in the second quarter. JGP Wealth Management LLC now owns 101,528 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $11,358,000 after acquiring an additional 2,456 shares in the last quarter. Prospector Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 1.0% in the second quarter. Prospector Partners LLC now owns 34,750 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,887,000 after acquiring an additional 350 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 132.9% in the second quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 436,740 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $48,771,000 after acquiring an additional 249,188 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clarius Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 7.5% in the second quarter. Clarius Group LLC now owns 4,605 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $515,000 after acquiring an additional 320 shares in the last quarter. 72.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of PAYX stock opened at $117.52 on Friday. Paychex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $104.09 and a fifty-two week high of $129.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.65, a PEG ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.24. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $115.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $115.86.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 27th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.02. Paychex had a return on equity of 46.51% and a net margin of 31.40%. The business had revenue of $1.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.28 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.03 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 28th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.89 per share. This represents a $3.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 13th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 80.73%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 41,329 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.79, for a total transaction of $4,785,484.91. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 19,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,292,642. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 11.50% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PAYX has been the subject of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Paychex from $114.00 to $134.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 22nd. UBS Group initiated coverage on Paychex in a research note on Tuesday, November 7th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $120.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Paychex in a research note on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $115.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research note on Tuesday, September 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Paychex from $125.00 to $127.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 28th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $121.63.

About Paychex

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.