Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC Takes Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 125,066 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $14,828,000.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Paychex by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,541,306 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,750,472,000 after purchasing an additional 123,268 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its stake in shares of Paychex by 12.8% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 20,878,283 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,563,853,000 after buying an additional 2,373,894 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Paychex by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,687,859 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $320,151,000 after buying an additional 56,793 shares during the period. FIL Ltd increased its stake in shares of Paychex by 32.4% in the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 2,548,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $303,492,000 after buying an additional 623,000 shares during the period. Finally, Capital World Investors increased its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,508,681 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of Paychex stock opened at $132.99 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $47.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 1.00. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $128.76 and its 200-day moving average is $124.15. Paychex, Inc. has a one year low of $106.27 and a one year high of $137.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.37.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 26th. The business services provider reported $1.12 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.29 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 46.63% and a net margin of 32.03%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.97 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 8th were issued a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 8th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.95%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 83.94%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on PAYX shares. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Paychex from $125.00 to $122.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Paychex from $126.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Barclays lifted their target price on Paychex from $118.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $130.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on Paychex from $111.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Two equities 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, Paychex presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $125.62.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 9,615 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.60, for a total transaction of $1,207,644.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 5,383 shares in the company, valued at $676,104.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 9,615 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.60, for a total transaction of $1,207,644.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 5,383 shares in the company, valued at $676,104.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 14,434 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.21, for a total value of $1,807,281.14. Following the sale, the director now owns 5,383 shares in the company, valued at approximately $674,005.43. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 147,163 shares of company stock worth $17,537,817 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 11.50% of the company’s stock.

About Paychex

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.