Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Shares Acquired by Ethic Inc.

by · The Cerbat Gem

Ethic Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX – Free Report) by 0.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 49,579 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 173 shares during the period. Ethic Inc.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $6,952,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Paychex by 91.1% in the fourth quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 10,808 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,515,000 after buying an additional 5,153 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its position in shares of Paychex by 120.0% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 6,936 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $973,000 after purchasing an additional 3,783 shares during the last quarter. PFW Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,405,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 3.3% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 424,160 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $56,918,000 after purchasing an additional 13,702 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Red Door Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Paychex in the fourth quarter worth about $314,000. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Paychex Stock Performance

PAYX opened at $151.65 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The business’s 50 day moving average is $147.08 and its 200-day moving average is $145.27. The stock has a market cap of $54.62 billion, a PE ratio of 31.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.91. Paychex, Inc. has a twelve month low of $115.40 and a twelve month high of $158.37.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.01. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.28% and a net margin of 32.02%. The company had revenue of $1.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.51 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.38 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PAYX has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays increased their target price on Paychex from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, March 31st. Citigroup raised their price objective on Paychex from $145.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Cfra Research upgraded shares of Paychex to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $141.00.

View Our Latest Stock Analysis on PAYX

About Paychex

(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.

See Also

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding PAYX? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX – Free Report).