Catalina Capital Group LLC Acquires 175 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Catalina Capital Group LLC grew its holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 8.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,268 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the period. Catalina Capital Group LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $304,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Paychex by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,541,306 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,750,472,000 after purchasing an additional 123,268 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its position in Paychex by 12.8% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 20,878,283 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,563,853,000 after acquiring an additional 2,373,894 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its position in Paychex by 155.6% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,478,325 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $304,338,000 after acquiring an additional 1,508,681 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Paychex by 19.5% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,356,262 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $279,351,000 after buying an additional 384,184 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc grew its position in shares of Paychex by 57.2% in the 1st quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 2,179,930 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $267,695,000 after buying an additional 793,468 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PAYX has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Barclays upped their price target on Paychex from $118.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Paychex from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Paychex from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Paychex from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Paychex from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Paychex has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $130.77.

Insider Activity

In other Paychex news, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 17,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,471,480.70. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Paychex news, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 26,428 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.03, for a total transaction of $3,674,284.84. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 14,515 shares in the company, valued at $2,018,020.45. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.35, for a total value of $1,852,685.25. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 17,362 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,471,480.70. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 54,174 shares of company stock valued at $7,577,231 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 11.40% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of PAYX opened at $148.59 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 1.38. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $137.06 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $127.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.68, a P/E/G ratio of 3.84 and a beta of 0.99. Paychex, Inc. has a 52 week low of $110.82 and a 52 week high of $149.26.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 1st. The business services provider reported $1.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.32 billion during 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%. Paychex’s quarterly revenue was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.14 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 7th will be issued a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.64%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 83.58%.

Paychex 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.