Deutsche Bank AG Raises Stock Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Deutsche Bank AG raised its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 11.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,214,754 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 124,016 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG’s holdings in Paychex were worth $170,333,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Paychex by 220.7% in the 4th quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 186 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new position in Paychex during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new stake in Paychex during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Avion Wealth lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 469.8% during the fourth quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 245 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Paychex

In other Paychex news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.25, for a total value of $544,762.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 78,455 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,709,408.75. This trade represents a 4.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 11.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Paychex Trading Up 0.2 %

NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $151.65 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $54.62 billion, a PE ratio of 31.93, a P/E/G ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.91. Paychex, Inc. has a 52-week low of $115.40 and a 52-week high of $158.37. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $147.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $145.27. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.51 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.51 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 32.02% and a return on equity of 45.28%. Paychex’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.38 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th will be issued a dividend of $1.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 12th. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.85%. This is a positive change from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 90.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on PAYX shares. Cfra Research raised shares of Paychex to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Paychex from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, March 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Paychex from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $141.00.

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.