E Fund Management Co. Ltd. Buys 4,913 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

E Fund Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 97.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 9,978 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,913 shares during the period. E Fund Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $1,539,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,807,843 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,907,314,000 after buying an additional 286,818 shares during the period. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 26,905,031 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,772,544,000 after buying an additional 166,155 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 7.3% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,782,173 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,663,474,000 after buying an additional 737,542 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 16.9% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,807,554 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $674,115,000 after buying an additional 694,651 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,135,296 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $637,993,000 after buying an additional 30,670 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on PAYX. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of Paychex in a report on Thursday, July 10th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $160.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $165.00 price objective on shares of Paychex and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Paychex from $150.00 to $148.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 27th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Paychex from $155.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $140.00 price objective on shares of Paychex and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $150.20.

Paychex Stock Up 2.7%

NASDAQ PAYX opened at $138.61 on Thursday. Paychex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $124.48 and a fifty-two week high of $161.24. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $146.16 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $148.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $49.93 billion, a PE ratio of 30.33, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.91.

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

Paychex Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Paychex

In related news, CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,370 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.92, for a total value of $1,755,550.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 81,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,602,669.60. This represents a 13.14% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 97,526 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chairman directly owned 446,917 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $64,878,940.89. The trade was a 17.91% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 11.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.