Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Position Increased by Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc.

Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 8.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 7,392 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 556 shares during the quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $992,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of PAYX. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Paychex by 38,655.2% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 799,907 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $107,340,000 after acquiring an additional 797,843 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Paychex by 19.5% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,356,262 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $279,351,000 after purchasing an additional 384,184 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 9,524,870 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,278,142,000 after purchasing an additional 345,682 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates lifted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 27.4% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 988,417 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $132,636,000 after purchasing an additional 212,700 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. boosted its position in Paychex by 175.7% during the 2nd quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 331,115 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $39,257,000 after purchasing an additional 211,010 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PAYX has been the topic of several analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Paychex from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Paychex from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on Paychex from $118.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $131.62.

Paychex Stock Up 0.6 %

PAYX opened at $146.19 on Wednesday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $52.61 billion, a PE ratio of 31.17, a P/E/G ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.99. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $140.61 and its 200-day moving average is $130.37. Paychex, Inc. has a one year low of $114.72 and a one year high of $150.71.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 1st. The business services provider reported $1.16 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.31 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 31.98% and a return on equity of 45.97%. Paychex’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.14 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 7th will be given a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.68%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 83.58%.

Insider Transactions at Paychex

In other Paychex news, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 26,428 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $2,018,020.45. The trade was a 64.55 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 17,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,471,480.70. The trade was a 42.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 in the last three months. 11.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.