Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Stock Position Lifted by Metis Global Partners LLC

Metis Global Partners LLC lifted its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 16,811 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 761 shares during the quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $2,256,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PAYX. Sei Investments Co. raised its position in shares of Paychex by 5.8% in 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 period. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 4.0% during the 1st quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 5,623 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $691,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Nwam LLC grew its holdings in Paychex by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Nwam LLC now owns 3,528 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $430,000 after buying an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Spirepoint Private Client LLC bought a new position in Paychex in the 1st quarter worth approximately $579,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 0.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,541,306 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,750,472,000 after buying an additional 123,268 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 14,731 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.18, for a total transaction of $2,050,260.58. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 14,515 shares in the company, valued at $2,020,197.70. The trade was a 50.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of Paychex 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 17,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,471,480.70. This trade represents a 42.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 54,174 shares of company stock valued at $7,577,231. 11.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on PAYX shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Paychex from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Paychex from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Barclays upped their target price on Paychex from $118.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Paychex from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $130.77.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $142.96 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $51.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.48, a P/E/G ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 0.99. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $139.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $128.96. 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 fifty-two week low of $114.72 and a fifty-two week high of $150.71.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 1st. The business services provider reported $1.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.97% and a net margin of 31.98%. Paychex’s quarterly revenue was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.14 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 7th will be given a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.74%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.