Barclays PLC Purchases 552,540 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Barclays PLC grew its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 46.2% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,748,485 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 552,540 shares during the period. Barclays PLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $234,627,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Paychex by 286.0% in the 2nd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 220 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares during the period. ORG Partners LLC grew its stake in Paychex by 227.6% during the second quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 249 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in Paychex in the 2nd quarter worth $30,000. American National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 166.7% during the 2nd quarter. American National Bank now owns 288 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC grew its position in shares of Paychex by 42.0% during the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 250 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. TD Cowen increased their price target on Paychex from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target 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. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Paychex from $118.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $131.62.

Insider Transactions at Paychex

In other news, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.35, for a total value of $1,852,685.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 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 value of $3,674,284.84. Following the sale, the vice president now directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 54,174 shares of company stock valued at $7,577,231. Company insiders own 11.40% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of PAYX opened at $140.95 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.05, a PEG ratio of 3.92 and a beta of 0.99. 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 1-year low of $114.72 and a 1-year high of $150.71. The company has a 50-day moving average of $142.58 and a 200 day moving average of $131.57.

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

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 7th were issued a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.78%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 83.58%.

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.