DRW Securities LLC Acquires New Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

DRW Securities LLC bought a new position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 3,783 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $508,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of PAYX. Czech National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 8.3% during the 2nd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 61,049 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,238,000 after buying an additional 4,703 shares during the last quarter. BDF Gestion acquired a new stake in Paychex in the second quarter valued at approximately $2,796,000. PGGM Investments lifted its stake in Paychex by 57.7% in the second quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 21,703 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,573,000 after acquiring an additional 7,943 shares during the last quarter. DNB Asset Management AS grew its position in Paychex by 6.6% in the second quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 64,580 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,657,000 after acquiring an additional 4,001 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates increased its stake in shares of Paychex by 27.4% during 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on PAYX. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Paychex from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Paychex from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $131.62.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 26,428 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the vice president now owns 14,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,018,020.45. The trade was a 64.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 17,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,471,480.70. This represents a 42.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 54,174 shares of company stock worth $7,577,231. Company insiders own 11.40% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Price Performance

NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $146.19 on Wednesday. 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, Inc. has a one year low of $114.72 and a one year high of $150.71. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $140.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $130.37. The stock has a market cap of $52.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.17, a PEG ratio of 3.97 and a beta of 0.99.

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

Paychex Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.68%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 7th. Paychex’s 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.