Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Shares Bought by Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 0.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 558,170 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,112 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned approximately 0.16% of Paychex worth $74,901,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Czech National Bank increased its position in shares of Paychex by 8.3% in 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 during the period. PGGM Investments increased its holdings in shares of Paychex by 57.7% in the second quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 21,703 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,573,000 after purchasing an additional 7,943 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates raised its stake in shares of Paychex by 27.4% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 988,417 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $132,636,000 after purchasing an additional 212,700 shares during the last quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD raised its stake in shares of Paychex by 4.6% in the third quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 1,567,667 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $210,282,000 after purchasing an additional 68,627 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bahl & Gaynor Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 7.2% during the second quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 1,703,913 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $202,016,000 after purchasing an additional 114,132 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on PAYX. UBS Group raised 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 raised their target price on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Paychex from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Paychex from $118.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $131.62.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Paychex news, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $2,471,480.70. This trade represents a 42.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 14,731 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The shares were 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 trade represents a 50.37 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 54,174 shares of company stock valued at $7,577,231 in the last three months. 11.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Paychex Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $142.86 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $51.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.46, a P/E/G ratio of 3.92 and a beta of 0.99. Paychex, Inc. has a twelve month low of $114.72 and a twelve month high of $150.71. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $142.45 and its 200-day moving average price is $131.46. 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 released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 1st. The business services provider reported $1.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 net margin of 31.98% and a return on equity of 45.97%. The business’s revenue was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.14 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 7th were issued a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 7th. Paychex’s payout ratio is currently 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.