Axa S.A. Lowers Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Axa S.A. trimmed its holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 72.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 135,884 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 353,782 shares during the period. Axa S.A.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $16,110,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in PAYX. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 1.2% in the second quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI now owns 7,362 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $873,000 after buying an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 3.8% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,543 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $312,000 after buying an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. Rockland Trust Co. lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 1.1% in the first quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 9,074 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,114,000 after buying an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. KCM Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 3.2% in the first quarter. KCM Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,190 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $392,000 after buying an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sfmg LLC increased its stake in Paychex by 1.4% during the second quarter. Sfmg LLC now owns 7,151 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $848,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on Paychex from $126.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Paychex from $125.00 to $122.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Paychex from $118.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Paychex from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $125.62.

Insider Transactions at Paychex

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

Paychex Price Performance

NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $132.99 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. Paychex, Inc. has a twelve month low of $106.27 and a twelve month high of $137.40. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $128.76 and a 200-day simple moving average of $124.15. The company has a market cap of $47.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 1.00.

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

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 8th were issued a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 8th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.