Voleon Capital Management LP Makes New Investment in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Voleon Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 7,703 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,080,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC boosted its holdings 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 valued at $1,515,000 after buying an additional 5,153 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in Paychex by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 997,930 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $142,055,000 after acquiring an additional 27,296 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its stake in 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 period. PFW Advisors LLC bought a new position in Paychex during the 4th quarter worth about $2,405,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Paychex by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 424,160 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $56,918,000 after purchasing an additional 13,702 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paychex

In other Paychex news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.25, for a total value of $544,762.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 78,455 shares in the company, valued at $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 11.40% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup upped their price objective on Paychex from $145.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Barclays upped their price target on Paychex from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Cfra Research raised shares of Paychex to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $141.00.

Paychex Stock Performance

NASDAQ PAYX traded up $3.20 on Friday, hitting $149.81. 1,460,405 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,925,535. The company has a market capitalization of $53.96 billion, a PE ratio of 31.54, a P/E/G ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.88. 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 business's fifty day moving average is $147.15 and its 200 day moving average is $144.99. Paychex, Inc. has a 52 week low of $115.40 and a 52 week high of $158.37.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last issued 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. The company had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.51 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 32.02% and a return on equity of 45.28%. Paychex's quarterly revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.38 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th will be paid a $1.08 dividend. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.88%. This is a boost from Paychex's previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Paychex's dividend payout ratio is 81.67%.

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.