Voleon Capital Management LP Invests $1.08 Million in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

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

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Monument Capital Management increased its stake in shares of Paychex by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Monument Capital Management now owns 1,714 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $240,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Paychex by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 2,881 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $423,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. Emerald Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Paychex by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Emerald Advisors LLC now owns 3,017 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $423,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the period. Weaver Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Paychex by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Weaver Capital Management LLC now owns 2,121 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $297,000 after buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Adero Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Paychex by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Adero Partners LLC now owns 2,391 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $335,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on PAYX. Cfra Research upgraded shares of Paychex to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Paychex from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, March 31st. Morgan Stanley upped their target price 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. 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 research 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Paychex presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $141.00.

Paychex Trading Down 0.5 %

NASDAQ:PAYX traded down $0.68 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $148.77. The company had a trading volume of 207,851 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,916,452. 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 stock has a 50-day moving average price of $147.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $145.07. The company has a market capitalization of $53.59 billion, a PE ratio of 31.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.88. 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 released 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. The company had revenue of $1.51 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.51 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 32.02% and a return on equity of 45.28%. Paychex's revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.38 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th will be given a dividend of $1.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 12th. This is a positive change from Paychex's previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.90%. Paychex's payout ratio is currently 81.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 sale, the director now owns 78,455 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,709,408.75. The trade was a 4.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 11.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Paychex 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.