KBC Group NV decreased its position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 7.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 63,767 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 5,171 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV's holdings in Paychex were worth $8,557,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 18.8% during the 3rd quarter. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd now owns 4,696 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $630,000 after acquiring an additional 742 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Paychex by 13.2% during the third quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,435 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $998,000 after purchasing an additional 867 shares during the last quarter. GHE LLC lifted its stake in Paychex by 1.0% during the third quarter. GHE LLC now owns 21,267 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $2,827,000 after purchasing an additional 203 shares during the last quarter. MQS Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex in the 3rd quarter valued at $598,000. Finally, Chase Investment Counsel Corp increased its stake in shares of Paychex by 8.1% in the 3rd quarter. Chase Investment Counsel Corp now owns 3,854 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $517,000 after purchasing an additional 288 shares during the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
In other Paychex news, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 14,731 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.18, for a total value of $2,050,260.58. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,515 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,020,197.70. The trade was a 50.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of the firm'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 transaction of $1,852,685.25. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 17,362 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,471,480.70. This trade represents a 42.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 54,174 shares of company stock worth $7,577,231 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 11.40% of the company's stock.
Several brokerages recently weighed in on PAYX. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Paychex from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Paychex from $118.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Paychex from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $130.77.
Read Our Latest Stock Report on Paychex
Shares of PAYX stock opened at $142.96 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 1.38. Paychex, Inc. has a one year low of $114.72 and a one year high of $150.71. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $139.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $129.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.45 billion, a PE ratio of 30.48, a PEG ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 0.99.
Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.31 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 31.98% and a return on equity of 45.97%. Paychex's revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.14 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.98 earnings per share for the current year.
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 7th will be paid a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.74%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 7th. Paychex's dividend payout ratio is 83.58%.
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.
This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to [email protected].
Before you consider Paychex, you'll want to hear this.
MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Paychex wasn't on the list.
While Paychex currently has a "Reduce" rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.