Mufg Securities Americas Inc. Invests $663,000 in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Mufg Securities Americas Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 4,729 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $663,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PAYX. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 91.1% during the 4th quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 10,808 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,515,000 after acquiring an additional 5,153 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 120.0% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 6,936 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $973,000 after acquiring an additional 3,783 shares in the last quarter. Red Door Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Paychex during the 4th quarter worth $314,000. Brookstone Capital Management boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 3,027 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $424,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DAVENPORT & Co LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 54.6% in the fourth quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 36,057 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $5,056,000 after purchasing an additional 12,732 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paychex

In other Paychex news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $11,709,408.75. This trade represents a 4.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 11.40% of the company's stock.

Paychex Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:PAYX traded up $1.55 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $155.98. 1,415,518 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,928,600. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.39. Paychex, Inc. has a 52-week low of $115.40 and a 52-week high of $158.37. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $147.26 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $145.71. The company has a market capitalization of $56.18 billion, a PE ratio of 32.84, a P/E/G ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.91.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.01. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.28% and a net margin of 32.02%. The business had revenue of $1.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.51 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.38 earnings per share. Paychex's quarterly revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 issued a dividend of $1.08 per share. This is a positive change from Paychex's previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.77%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 12th. Paychex's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 90.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on PAYX shares. Cfra Research upgraded Paychex to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Barclays increased their target price on Paychex from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, March 31st. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Paychex from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on Paychex from $145.00 to $158.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $141.00.

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.