Benjamin Edwards Inc. Buys 6,096 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 5.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 109,133 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 6,096 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc.'s holdings in Paychex were worth $15,304,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Paychex by 220.7% in the 4th quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 186 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new position in Paychex in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Paychex during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new stake in Paychex during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Avion Wealth boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 469.8% in the 4th quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 245 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Paychex

In related news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.25, for a total value of $544,762.50. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 78,455 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,709,408.75. This represents 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 this link. Corporate insiders own 11.40% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Barclays boosted their price objective 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. UBS Group lifted their target price 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. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Paychex from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on Paychex from $145.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. 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, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $141.00.

Paychex Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of PAYX traded up $0.32 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $151.65. 1,120,253 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,930,983. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.93, a PEG ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.91. The business's 50-day moving average price is $147.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $145.30. Paychex, Inc. has a 1 year low of $115.40 and a 1 year high of $158.37.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $1.51 billion for 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%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.38 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The company 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 an increase 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.85%. Paychex's dividend payout ratio is 90.00%.

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.