Virtu Financial LLC Buys Shares of 18,498 Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm bought 18,498 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,193,000.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex during the 2nd quarter valued at $239,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Paychex by 19.5% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,356,262 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $279,351,000 after purchasing an additional 384,184 shares during the last quarter. Rathbones Group PLC raised its position in Paychex by 14.9% in the second quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 137,224 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $16,269,000 after purchasing an additional 17,780 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 5.9% during the second quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,568 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $779,000 after purchasing an additional 367 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Paychex by 9.6% during the second quarter. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC now owns 7,638 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $905,000 after purchasing an additional 670 shares during the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 101,490 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.27, for a total transaction of $11,901,732.30. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 437,345 shares in the company, valued at $51,287,448.15. The sale was disclosed in a document filed 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 firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chairman now owns 437,345 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $51,287,448.15. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 9,615 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 5,383 shares in the company, valued at $676,104.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 147,163 shares of company stock worth $17,537,817. 11.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Paychex from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on shares of Paychex from $126.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $122.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Paychex from $111.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their target price on Paychex from $121.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $123.00.

Paychex Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $134.93 on Wednesday. Paychex, Inc. has a 1 year low of $106.27 and a 1 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. The business’s 50-day moving average is $127.10 and its 200-day moving average is $123.59. The company has a market capitalization of $48.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.89, a P/E/G ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 1.00.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 26th. The business services provider reported $1.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.02. The firm 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 revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.97 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 8th were paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 8th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 83.94%.

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.