Hartford Investment Management Co. Decreases Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Hartford Investment Management Co. trimmed its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 20,061 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 441 shares during the period. Hartford Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $2,692,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in Paychex by 12.8% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 20,878,283 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,563,853,000 after acquiring an additional 2,373,894 shares during the period. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 155.6% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,478,325 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $304,338,000 after purchasing an additional 1,508,681 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of Paychex by 57.2% in the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 2,179,930 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $267,695,000 after purchasing an additional 793,468 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in shares of Paychex by 85.1% in the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,259,393 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $154,263,000 after buying an additional 579,136 shares during the period. Finally, Epoch Investment Partners Inc. raised its holdings in Paychex by 30.9% during the 1st quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 1,676,521 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $205,877,000 after buying an additional 395,343 shares during the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of Paychex stock opened at $141.43 on Thursday. Paychex, Inc. has a 12 month low of $106.27 and a 12 month high of $144.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.28, a P/E/G ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $134.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $126.60.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its quarterly 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. The company had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.31 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 31.98% and a return on equity of 45.97%. Paychex’s revenue was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.14 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 7th will be given a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.77%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 83.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paychex

In other news, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of the 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 17,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,471,480.70. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.35, for a total value of $1,852,685.25. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 17,362 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 accessible through this link. Also, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 26,428 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,018,020.45. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 78,223 shares of company stock worth $10,592,156. 11.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PAYX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Paychex from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Paychex from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Paychex from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. UBS Group boosted their target price on Paychex from $125.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on Paychex from $126.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $130.77.

Paychex 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.