Unigestion Holding SA Grows Stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Unigestion Holding SA grew its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 2,139.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 295,692 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 282,487 shares during the quarter. Paychex accounts for 1.9% of Unigestion Holding SA’s holdings, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Unigestion Holding SA’s holdings in Paychex were worth $39,667,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Paychex by 38,655.2% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 799,907 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $107,340,000 after buying an additional 797,843 shares during the period. Barclays PLC boosted its position in Paychex by 46.2% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,748,485 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $234,627,000 after acquiring an additional 552,540 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Paychex by 19.5% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,356,262 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $279,351,000 after acquiring an additional 384,184 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Paychex by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 9,524,870 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,278,142,000 after acquiring an additional 345,682 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates lifted 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 own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Paychex

In other Paychex news, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 26,428 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 14,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,018,020.45. The trade was a 64.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of the company’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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 17,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,471,480.70. This trade represents a 42.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 54,174 shares of company stock worth $7,577,231 over the last three months. Company insiders own 11.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PAYX has been the topic of several analyst reports. Citigroup lifted their target price on Paychex from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Barclays lifted their price target 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Paychex presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $131.62.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of PAYX stock opened at $142.39 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $142.58 and a 200 day moving average of $131.57. Paychex, Inc. has a 1 year low of $114.72 and a 1 year high of $150.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 1.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.92 and a beta of 0.99.

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

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 7th were issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.75%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 83.58%.

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.