Cigna Investments Inc. New Decreases Stock Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

by · The Markets Daily

Cigna Investments Inc. New reduced its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX – Free Report) by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,299 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 97 shares during the quarter. Cigna Investments Inc. New’s holdings in Paychex were worth $442,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Czech National Bank raised its position in shares of Paychex by 8.3% during 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. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in Paychex by 85.1% during the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,259,393 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $154,263,000 after buying an additional 579,136 shares in the last quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 4.9% in the first quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 10,250 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,259,000 after acquiring an additional 477 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 5.8% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 110,113 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $13,522,000 after acquiring an additional 6,033 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BDF Gestion acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex during the second quarter valued at $2,796,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Stock Performance

Paychex stock opened at $139.09 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 1.38. Paychex, Inc. has a 12 month low of $108.58 and a 12 month high of $144.17. The company has a market cap of $50.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 1.00. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $136.31 and its 200-day moving average is $127.39.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 1st. The business services provider reported $1.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by $0.02. Paychex had a net margin of 31.98% and a return on equity of 45.97%. The firm had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.31 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.14 earnings per share. Paychex’s revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 7th will be issued a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.82%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 83.58%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paychex

In other news, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 14,731 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.18, for a total value of $2,050,260.58. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 14,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,020,197.70. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 14,731 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.18, for a total transaction of $2,050,260.58. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,020,197.70. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 14,434 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.21, for a total transaction of $1,807,281.14. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 5,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $674,005.43. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 68,608 shares of company stock valued at $9,384,512 over the last three months. 11.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on PAYX. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. UBS Group upped 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Paychex from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Barclays increased their price target on Paychex from $118.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Paychex from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $130.77.

Check Out Our Latest Analysis on PAYX

Paychex Company Profile

(Free Report)

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.

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