Empirical Finance LLC Boosts Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Empirical Finance LLC grew its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,082 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 240 shares during the quarter. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $1,487,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Dearborn Partners LLC increased its position in Paychex by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. Dearborn Partners LLC now owns 10,884 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,461,000 after buying an additional 514 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 18.4% during the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 130,953 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $17,573,000 after acquiring an additional 20,361 shares during the last quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Paychex by 11.3% during the third quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 7,995 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,073,000 after acquiring an additional 810 shares in the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Paychex by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 16,811 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,256,000 after purchasing an additional 761 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zions Bancorporation N.A. boosted its stake in Paychex by 114,182.6% in the 3rd quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 26,285 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,527,000 after purchasing an additional 26,262 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.35, for a total transaction of $1,852,685.25. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 17,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,471,480.70. This represents a 42.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction of $2,050,260.58. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 14,515 shares in the company, valued at $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. In the last quarter, insiders sold 54,174 shares of company stock worth $7,577,231. 11.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on PAYX. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. UBS Group lifted their price target on Paychex from $125.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Paychex from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Paychex from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Paychex has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $130.77.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of Paychex stock opened at $142.96 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. Paychex, Inc. has a 52 week low of $114.72 and a 52 week high of $150.71. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $139.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $129.12. The firm has a market capitalization 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.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 1st. The business services provider reported $1.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.02. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.97% and a net margin of 31.98%. The business had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.14 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

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

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.