ING Groep NV Has $9.12 Million Stock Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

ING Groep NV reduced its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 10.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 67,981 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 7,771 shares during the quarter. ING Groep NV’s holdings in Paychex were worth $9,122,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of PAYX. Czech National Bank lifted its stake in Paychex by 8.3% during the 2nd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 61,049 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,238,000 after acquiring an additional 4,703 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in shares of Paychex by 5.8% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 110,113 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $13,522,000 after purchasing an additional 6,033 shares during the last quarter. BDF Gestion bought a new position in Paychex during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $2,796,000. PGGM Investments lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 57.7% in the 2nd quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 21,703 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,573,000 after purchasing an additional 7,943 shares during the period. Finally, Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC boosted its position in shares of Paychex by 4.0% during the first quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 5,623 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $691,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PAYX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Paychex from $118.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. UBS Group lifted their target price on Paychex from $125.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Paychex from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $130.77.

Insider Activity at Paychex

In other Paychex news, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.35, for a total value of $1,852,685.25. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 17,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,471,480.70. This represents a 42.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 14,731 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 14,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,020,197.70. The trade was a 50.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 54,174 shares of company stock valued at $7,577,231. Insiders own 11.40% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PAYX opened at $142.96 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $51.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.48, a P/E/G ratio of 4.03 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. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $139.03 and a two-hundred day moving average of $128.96. Paychex, Inc. has a twelve month low of $114.72 and a twelve month high of $150.71.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 1st. The business services provider reported $1.16 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 analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.97% and a net margin of 31.98%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.14 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 7th will be issued a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.74%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 83.58%.

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.