ST Germain D J Co. Inc. Increases Stock Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

ST Germain D J Co. Inc. increased its position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 72.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 949 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $127,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,541,306 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,750,472,000 after buying an additional 123,268 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its position in Paychex by 12.8% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 20,878,283 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,563,853,000 after purchasing an additional 2,373,894 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its stake in Paychex by 155.6% in the 1st 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. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Paychex by 19.5% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,356,262 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $279,351,000 after purchasing an additional 384,184 shares during the period. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc increased its position in shares of Paychex by 57.2% during the 1st quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 2,179,930 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $267,695,000 after purchasing an additional 793,468 shares during the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 8,954 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.60, for a total transaction of $1,106,714.40. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 79,232 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,793,075.20. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 14,731 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.18, for a total value of $2,050,260.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,515 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,020,197.70. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 8,954 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.60, for a total value of $1,106,714.40. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 79,232 shares in the company, valued at $9,793,075.20. 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 87,177 shares of company stock worth $11,698,870 in the last ninety days. 11.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Paychex Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of Paychex stock opened at $141.53 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $133.36 and its 200-day moving average price is $126.18. The company has a market cap of $50.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.31, a PEG ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 1.00. Paychex, Inc. has a 12-month low of $106.27 and a 12-month high of $144.17. 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 (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 1st. The business services provider reported $1.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.32 billion for 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%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.14 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect 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 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.77%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 7th. Paychex’s payout ratio is 83.94%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on PAYX. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of Paychex from $126.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Paychex from $118.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Paychex from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on Paychex from $125.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average 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.