Nordea Investment Management AB Sells 641,784 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Nordea Investment Management AB reduced its holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 44.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 792,212 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 641,784 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB’s holdings in Paychex were worth $111,298,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its holdings 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 worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Paychex during the third quarter valued at about $36,000. Quarry LP raised its position in shares of Paychex by 152.6% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 293 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dunhill Financial LLC grew its position in Paychex by 805.9% during the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 308 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 274 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Paychex

In related news, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 26,428 shares of the 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,515 shares in the company, valued at $2,018,020.45. This represents a 64.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were 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 owns 17,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,471,480.70. This represents a 42.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 11.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Paychex Stock Down 2.6 %

Shares of PAYX opened at $136.06 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $48.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.01, a PEG ratio of 3.88 and a beta of 1.00. 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 $142.40 and its 200-day simple moving average is $134.06. 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 (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 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 analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.08 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 7th were paid a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.88%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 82.53%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PAYX has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays raised their price objective on Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target 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. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $148.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $132.23.

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.