Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. Has $4.91 Million Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. lessened its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 51.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 41,385 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 44,321 shares during the period. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $4,907,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Czech National Bank grew its stake in Paychex by 8.3% during the second quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 61,049 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,238,000 after buying an additional 4,703 shares during the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Paychex in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,400,000. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in Paychex by 85.1% during the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,259,393 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $154,263,000 after acquiring an additional 579,136 shares during the last quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. acquired a new stake in Paychex during the 4th quarter valued at $23,330,000. Finally, Nomura Holdings Inc. bought a new position in Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at $774,000. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Stock Up 0.7 %

NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $135.09 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. Paychex, Inc. has a 12-month low of $106.27 and a 12-month high of $136.40. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $126.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $123.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.93, a P/E/G ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 1.00.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, June 26th. The business services provider reported $1.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.29 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 46.63% and a net margin of 32.03%. The company’s revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.97 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 8th were paid a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.90%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 8th. Paychex’s payout ratio is presently 83.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paychex

In other news, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 101,490 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.27, for a total transaction of $11,901,732.30. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 437,345 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $51,287,448.15. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,670 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.53, for a total transaction of $1,514,445.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 55,745 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,663,199.85. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 101,490 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.27, for a total transaction of $11,901,732.30. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 437,345 shares in the company, valued at $51,287,448.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 147,163 shares of company stock valued at $17,537,817. Corporate insiders own 11.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on PAYX. Bank of America increased their target price on Paychex from $111.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of Paychex from $126.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Paychex from $121.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Paychex from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on Paychex from $120.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Paychex presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $123.00.

Paychex Company Profile

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.