American Century Companies Inc. Acquires 51,085 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 49.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 154,587 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 51,085 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $18,328,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in PAYX. Capital International Investors raised its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 2,373,894 shares during the period. Capital World Investors raised 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 acquiring an additional 1,508,681 shares during the period. Confluence Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Paychex during the 1st quarter worth $146,617,000. TD Asset Management Inc increased its position in 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 worth $267,695,000 after buying an additional 793,468 shares during the period. Finally, FIL Ltd increased its position in Paychex by 32.4% during the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 2,548,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $303,492,000 after buying an additional 623,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paychex

In other Paychex news, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 9,615 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.60, for a total value of $1,207,644.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly 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 available through the SEC website. In other Paychex news, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 101,490 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.27, for a total value of $11,901,732.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 437,345 shares in the company, valued at $51,287,448.15. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 9,615 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.60, for a total value of $1,207,644.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 5,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $676,104.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 147,163 shares of company stock worth $17,537,817. 11.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Paychex Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $133.26 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $128.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $123.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.94 billion, a PE ratio of 28.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. Paychex, Inc. has a twelve month low of $106.27 and a twelve month high of $137.40.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 26th. The business services provider reported $1.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.02. The business 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%. Paychex’s revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.97 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 8th were given a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 8th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.94%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 83.94%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on PAYX. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Paychex from $125.00 to $122.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Paychex from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on Paychex from $126.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Bank of America increased their target price on Paychex from $111.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on Paychex from $120.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $123.00.

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.