869,796 Shares in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Acquired by Nuveen LLC

Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 869,796 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $134,192,000. Nuveen LLC owned approximately 0.24% of Paychex at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in PAYX. King Luther Capital Management Corp lifted its position in Paychex by 1.4% in the first quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 10,818 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,669,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Paychex in the first quarter worth approximately $657,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Paychex by 0.7% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,135,296 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $637,993,000 after purchasing an additional 30,670 shares during the period. Berger Financial Group Inc acquired a new stake in Paychex in the first quarter worth approximately $212,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Paychex by 36.9% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,968,564 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $303,710,000 after purchasing an additional 530,873 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Paychex Price Performance

PAYX opened at $138.60 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $147.04 and a 200-day moving average of $148.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $49.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.33, a PEG ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.91. Paychex, Inc. has a 12-month low of $123.13 and a 12-month high of $161.24. The company has a quick ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 25th. The business services provider reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.19. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.01% and a net margin of 29.75%. The business had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.38 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.12 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 21st will be paid a $1.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 21st. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. Paychex’s payout ratio is 94.53%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on PAYX. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Paychex from $150.00 to $148.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Paychex from $156.00 to $152.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. UBS Group cut their price objective on Paychex from $155.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Paychex from $140.00 to $148.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets began coverage on Paychex in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $160.00 price objective for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $150.20.

Insider Transactions at Paychex

In other Paychex news, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 97,526 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.17, for a total transaction of $14,157,849.42. Following the transaction, the chairman directly owned 446,917 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $64,878,940.89. This represents a 17.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,370 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.92, for a total transaction of $1,755,550.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 81,755 shares in the company, valued at $11,602,669.60. The trade was a 13.14% 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 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.