Vontobel Holding Ltd. Boosts Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,319 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 154 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $1,519,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Czech National Bank boosted its holdings in Paychex by 8.3% in the second quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 61,049 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,238,000 after purchasing an additional 4,703 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 85.1% in the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,259,393 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $154,263,000 after buying an additional 579,136 shares during the period. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC grew its position in shares of Paychex by 4.9% during the first quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 10,250 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,259,000 after buying an additional 477 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. increased its stake in shares of Paychex by 5.8% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 110,113 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $13,522,000 after buying an additional 6,033 shares during the period. Finally, BDF Gestion acquired a new stake in Paychex in the second quarter valued at approximately $2,796,000. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PAYX has been the subject of several analyst reports. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of Paychex from $126.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Barclays increased their target price on Paychex from $118.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Paychex from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on Paychex from $111.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $130.77.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 8,954 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.60, for a total value of $1,106,714.40. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 79,232 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,793,075.20. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Paychex news, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 9,615 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.60, for a total value of $1,207,644.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $676,104.80. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 8,954 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.60, for a total value of $1,106,714.40. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 79,232 shares in the company, valued at $9,793,075.20. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 87,177 shares of company stock valued at $11,698,870 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 11.50% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $141.53 on Friday. Paychex, Inc. has a 1-year low of $106.27 and a 1-year high of $144.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 1.38. The stock has a market cap of $50.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.31, a P/E/G ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 1.00. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $133.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $126.18.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 1st. The business services provider reported $1.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.97% and a net margin of 31.98%. The business’s revenue was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.14 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.98 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.77%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 83.94%.

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.