Range Financial Group LLC Has $695,000 Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Range Financial Group LLC raised its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 225.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,958 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,434 shares during the quarter. Range Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $695,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 38,655.2% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 799,907 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $107,340,000 after acquiring an additional 797,843 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in Paychex by 46.2% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,748,485 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $234,627,000 after purchasing an additional 552,540 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Paychex by 19.5% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,356,262 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $279,351,000 after purchasing an additional 384,184 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Paychex by 3.8% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 9,524,870 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,278,142,000 after purchasing an additional 345,682 shares during the period. Finally, Unigestion Holding SA raised its position in shares of Paychex by 2,139.2% in the third quarter. Unigestion Holding SA now owns 295,692 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $39,667,000 after buying an additional 282,487 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 26,428 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.03, for a total transaction of $3,674,284.84. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,515 shares in the company, valued at $2,018,020.45. This represents a 64.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 17,362 shares in the company, valued at $2,471,480.70. This trade represents a 42.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 11.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of PAYX traded up $3.20 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $139.26. The stock had a trading volume of 2,278,966 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,938,061. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 1.38. Paychex, Inc. has a 12 month low of $114.72 and a 12 month high of $150.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $50.14 billion, a PE ratio of 29.69, a PEG ratio of 3.88 and a beta of 1.00. The company’s 50-day moving average is $142.40 and its two-hundred day moving average is $134.06.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.02. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.97% and a net margin of 31.98%. The firm had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.08 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.98 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 7th were issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.81%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.53%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on PAYX. UBS Group increased 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. 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. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Paychex from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Paychex from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $132.23.

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.