Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Position Reduced by Nordea Investment Management AB

Nordea Investment Management AB reduced its position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 44.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 792,212 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 641,784 shares during the quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB owned about 0.22% of Paychex worth $111,298,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of PAYX. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Paychex by 26.3% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,670 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $795,000 after buying an additional 1,179 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Paychex by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 424,160 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $56,918,000 after acquiring an additional 13,702 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Paychex by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 997,930 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $142,055,000 after purchasing an additional 27,296 shares in the last quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 21.1% in the 3rd quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 9,569 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,283,000 after purchasing an additional 1,666 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 39,395 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,286,000 after purchasing an additional 1,039 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 17,362 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,471,480.70. This represents a 42.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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 value 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 64.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 11.40% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Trading Down 2.6 %

NASDAQ PAYX opened at $136.06 on Tuesday. 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 1-year low of $114.72 and a 1-year high of $150.71. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $142.40 and its 200-day simple moving average is $134.06. The company has a market capitalization of $48.99 billion, a PE ratio of 29.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.88 and a beta of 1.00.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.97% and a net margin of 31.98%. The business’s revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.08 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 7th were given a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.88%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is 82.53%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on PAYX shares. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $148.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Barclays increased their price target on Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock 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 given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $132.23.

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.