Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund Has $44.07 Million Stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund boosted its position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 129.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 328,386 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 185,339 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund owned approximately 0.09% of Paychex worth $44,066,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of PAYX. Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 286.0% in the 2nd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 220 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 227.6% in the 2nd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 249 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. American National Bank boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 166.7% in the 2nd quarter. American National Bank now owns 288 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 42.0% in the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 250 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Paychex

In other news, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 26,428 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.03, for a total transaction of $3,674,284.84. Following 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.35, for a total value of $1,852,685.25. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 17,362 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,471,480.70. This represents a 42.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 54,174 shares of company stock worth $7,577,231. Company insiders own 11.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PAYX has been the subject of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report 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 report on Wednesday, October 2nd. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Paychex from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective 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, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Paychex from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Paychex presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $131.62.

Paychex Stock Performance

NASDAQ PAYX opened at $145.71 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $140.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $130.48. Paychex, Inc. has a 12-month low of $114.72 and a 12-month high of $150.71. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The company has a market cap of $52.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.07, a PEG ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.99.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 1st. The business services provider reported $1.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.32 billion for 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 quarterly revenue was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.14 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 7th were issued a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.69%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 83.58%.

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.