Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Has $20.02 Million Stock Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lessened its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 12.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 149,180 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 21,564 shares during the quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Paychex were worth $20,018,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Czech National Bank raised its position in Paychex by 8.3% in the 2nd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 61,049 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,238,000 after purchasing an additional 4,703 shares during the last quarter. BDF Gestion acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex in the 2nd quarter valued at $2,796,000. PGGM Investments raised its position in shares of Paychex by 57.7% during the second quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 21,703 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,573,000 after acquiring an additional 7,943 shares during the last quarter. DNB Asset Management AS raised its position in shares of Paychex by 6.6% during the second quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 64,580 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,657,000 after acquiring an additional 4,001 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 27.4% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 988,417 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $132,636,000 after acquiring an additional 212,700 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Paychex Trading Up 0.4 %

NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $146.27 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $141.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $130.74. Paychex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $114.72 and a fifty-two week high of $150.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 1.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.64 billion, a PE ratio of 31.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.00 and a beta of 0.99.

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

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 7th were paid a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.68%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 83.58%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on PAYX. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Paychex from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $131.62.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 17,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,471,480.70. The trade was a 42.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 26,428 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.03, for a total value of $3,674,284.84. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,018,020.45. This represents a 64.55 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 54,174 shares of company stock worth $7,577,231. Insiders own 11.40% of the company’s stock.

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.