Fifth Third Bancorp Grows Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 3.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 35,854 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,315 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in Paychex were worth $5,532,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of PAYX. Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Paychex by 220.7% during the fourth quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 186 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new stake in shares of Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Paychex during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new stake in Paychex during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Asset Planning Inc acquired a new position in Paychex during the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.25, for a total transaction of $544,762.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 78,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,709,408.75. The trade was a 4.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 11.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PAYX opened at $153.22 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $55.19 billion, a PE ratio of 32.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.92. Paychex, Inc. has a 12 month low of $115.40 and a 12 month high of $161.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.39. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $151.13 and a 200-day simple moving average of $147.47.

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

Paychex Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a dividend of $1.08 per share. This is an increase from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. Paychex’s payout ratio is currently 90.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on PAYX. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Paychex in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Paychex from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Paychex from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $142.55.

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.