Andra AP fonden Purchases 6,200 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Andra AP fonden grew its position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 4.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 152,800 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 6,200 shares during the period. Andra AP fonden’s holdings in Paychex were worth $18,116,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of PAYX. Capital International Investors raised its position in shares of Paychex by 12.8% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 20,878,283 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,563,853,000 after buying an additional 2,373,894 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,508,681 shares in the last quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Paychex in the first quarter valued at about $146,617,000. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its position in Paychex by 57.2% during the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 2,179,930 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $267,695,000 after purchasing an additional 793,468 shares during the period. Finally, FIL Ltd increased its holdings in Paychex by 32.4% in the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 2,548,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $303,492,000 after buying an additional 623,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on PAYX shares. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $130.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Bank of America raised their target price on Paychex from $111.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective 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 decreased their target price on Paychex from $125.00 to $122.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Paychex from $120.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Paychex presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $122.62.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of Paychex stock opened at $132.22 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $47.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.31, a P/E/G ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 1.00. Paychex, Inc. has a twelve month low of $106.27 and a twelve month high of $133.12. The company’s fifty day moving average is $125.05 and its 200 day moving average is $123.11. The company has a quick ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 26th. The business services provider reported $1.12 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 firm had revenue of $1.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.29 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.97 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 8th were paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.96%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 8th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 83.94%.

Insider Activity at Paychex

In other news, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 9,615 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The stock was 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. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Paychex news, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 9,615 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.60, for a total value of $1,207,644.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 5,383 shares in the company, valued at $676,104.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 101,490 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.27, for a total transaction of $11,901,732.30. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 437,345 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 worth $17,537,817 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 11.50% of the company’s stock.

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.