ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd Purchases 742 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd grew its holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 18.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,696 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 742 shares during the period. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd’s holdings in Paychex were worth $630,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Czech National Bank lifted its position in 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 in the last quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC boosted its position in Paychex by 4.9% during the first quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 10,250 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,259,000 after purchasing an additional 477 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. boosted its position in Paychex by 5.8% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 110,113 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $13,522,000 after purchasing an additional 6,033 shares during the last quarter. BDF Gestion acquired a new position in shares of Paychex during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,796,000. Finally, PGGM Investments raised its stake in shares of Paychex by 57.7% during the 2nd quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 21,703 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,573,000 after purchasing an additional 7,943 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 17,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,471,480.70. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Paychex news, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.35, for a total transaction of $1,852,685.25. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 17,362 shares in the company, valued at $2,471,480.70. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 26,428 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.03, for a total transaction of $3,674,284.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,515 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,018,020.45. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 54,174 shares of company stock worth $7,577,231. Corporate insiders own 11.40% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PAYX traded down $0.59 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $147.41. 292,362 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,783,203. 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 firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $138.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $128.72. Paychex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $114.72 and a fifty-two week high of $150.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $53.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.09 and a beta of 0.99.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 1st. The business services provider reported $1.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.31 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.14 earnings per share. Paychex’s quarterly revenue was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.98 EPS 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 dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.66%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 83.58%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on PAYX shares. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Paychex from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Paychex from $118.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Paychex from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $130.77.

Paychex Company 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.