Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Shares Acquired by Capital International Investors

Capital International Investors boosted its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 0.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 26,905,031 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 166,155 shares during the period. Capital International Investors owned 7.47% of Paychex worth $3,772,544,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Paychex by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,521,025 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,419,878,000 after purchasing an additional 174,817 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Paychex by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,044,631 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,408,458,000 after purchasing an additional 519,761 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Paychex by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,541,034 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,339,463,000 after buying an additional 126,962 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,104,626 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $575,551,000 after buying an additional 208,130 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,299,297 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $322,407,000 after buying an additional 56,622 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Paychex from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $148.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a report on Friday, December 20th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Paychex from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $141.00.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $144.90 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.39. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $147.97 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $144.59. The stock has a market cap of $52.19 billion, a PE ratio of 30.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.88. Paychex, Inc. has a one year low of $115.40 and a one year high of $158.37.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.01. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.28% and a net margin of 32.02%. The business had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.51 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.38 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Paychex news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.25, for a total value of $544,762.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 78,455 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,709,408.75. The trade was a 4.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 11.40% of the company’s stock.

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.