Principal Financial Group Inc. Increases Stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 424,160 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 13,702 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.12% of Paychex worth $56,918,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Paychex by 286.0% in the second 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 increased its stake in Paychex by 227.6% in the 2nd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 249 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 173 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new position in Paychex in the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Paychex during the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, ESL Trust Services LLC purchased a new stake in Paychex in the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. 83.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 26,428 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,515 shares in the company, valued at $2,018,020.45. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Paychex news, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 14,731 shares of the 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 14,515 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,020,197.70. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 26,428 shares of the business’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 value of $3,674,284.84. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 14,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,018,020.45. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 54,174 shares of company stock valued at $7,577,231 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 11.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on PAYX. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. TD Cowen raised 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. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Paychex from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Paychex from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Paychex currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $130.77.

Paychex Trading Up 1.4 %

NASDAQ PAYX opened at $148.57 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $53.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.68, a P/E/G ratio of 4.08 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. Paychex, Inc. has a 12-month low of $113.70 and a 12-month high of $149.26. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $137.75 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $128.25.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 1st. The business services provider reported $1.16 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.31 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.14 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 7th. Paychex’s payout ratio is 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.