Access Financial Services Inc. Purchases 342 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Access Financial Services Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 2.7% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 13,033 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 342 shares during the quarter. Access Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $1,545,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Czech National Bank boosted 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 worth $7,238,000 after buying an additional 4,703 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Paychex in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,400,000. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in shares of Paychex by 85.1% during the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,259,393 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $154,263,000 after purchasing an additional 579,136 shares during the period. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. bought a new position in shares of Paychex during the fourth quarter worth approximately $23,330,000. Finally, Nomura Holdings Inc. acquired a new stake in Paychex during the 4th quarter worth approximately $774,000. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PAYX traded up $2.11 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $130.00. The stock had a trading volume of 2,120,698 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,837,320. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $123.27 and its 200-day moving average price is $122.52. Paychex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $106.27 and a fifty-two week high of $130.15. The company has a quick ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The company has a market capitalization of $46.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 1.00.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 32.03% and a return on equity of 46.63%. The business had revenue of $1.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.29 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.97 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 8th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.02%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 83.94%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on PAYX. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Paychex from $125.00 to $122.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Paychex from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Paychex from $120.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 1st. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $111.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $130.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $122.62.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Paychex news, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 8,954 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.60, for a total value of $1,106,714.40. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 79,232 shares in the company, valued at $9,793,075.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Paychex news, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 8,954 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.60, for a total value of $1,106,714.40. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 79,232 shares in the company, valued at $9,793,075.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 9,615 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.60, for a total transaction of $1,207,644.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 5,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $676,104.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 147,163 shares of company stock worth $17,537,817 in the last ninety days. 11.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.