Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Shares Bought by The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 0.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 241,697 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,407 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned 0.07% of Paychex worth $32,432,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in Paychex in the first quarter valued at $18,352,000. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its position in shares of Paychex by 220.0% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 117,347 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $14,410,000 after acquiring an additional 80,678 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Paychex by 74.2% during the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 40,033 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,916,000 after purchasing an additional 17,056 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Paychex by 4.5% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,203 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $381,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HM Payson & Co. increased its stake in Paychex by 3.1% in the first quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 4,167 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $512,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 14,731 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.18, for a total transaction of $2,050,260.58. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,020,197.70. This represents a 50.37 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.35, for a total transaction of $1,852,685.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 17,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,471,480.70. This trade represents a 42.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 54,174 shares of company stock valued at $7,577,231 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 11.40% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Stock Up 0.4 %

Paychex stock opened at $146.27 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $141.39 and a two-hundred day moving average of $130.74. Paychex, Inc. has a twelve month low of $114.72 and a twelve month high of $150.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.19, a PEG ratio of 4.00 and a beta of 0.99. 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 (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 1st. The business services provider reported $1.16 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.97% and a net margin of 31.98%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.14 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 7th were paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.68%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 83.58%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PAYX has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Paychex from $118.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Paychex from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their target price on Paychex from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Paychex has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $131.62.

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.