Swiss National Bank Raises Stock Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Swiss National Bank increased its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 0.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 962,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,800 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned approximately 0.27% of Paychex worth $129,091,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Paychex by 286.0% during the 2nd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 220 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Paychex by 227.6% during the 2nd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 249 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new position in shares of Paychex during the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. American National Bank raised its stake in shares of Paychex by 166.7% during the 2nd quarter. American National Bank now owns 288 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC raised its stake in shares of Paychex by 42.0% during the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 250 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on PAYX shares. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Paychex from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Paychex from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Paychex from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Citigroup lifted their price target on Paychex from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Paychex has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $130.77.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 17,362 shares in the company, valued at $2,471,480.70. This represents a 42.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 26,428 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.03, for a total value of $3,674,284.84. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 14,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,018,020.45. This trade represents a 64.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 54,174 shares of company stock worth $7,577,231 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 11.40% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Trading Down 2.0 %

PAYX stock opened at $142.96 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. Paychex, Inc. has a 12-month low of $114.72 and a 12-month high of $150.71. The stock has a market cap of $51.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.48, a PEG ratio of 3.93 and a beta of 0.99. The business’s 50-day moving average is $139.30 and its 200 day moving average is $129.26.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.97% and a net margin of 31.98%. The company had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.31 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.14 EPS. Paychex’s revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 7th will be given a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.74%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.