Benjamin Edwards Inc. Increases Stock Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 5.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund 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 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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

Paychex Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ PAYX traded up $1.26 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $150.28. 1,610,326 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,927,190. Paychex, Inc. has a one year low of $115.40 and a one year high of $158.37. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $147.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $145.13. The company has a market cap of $54.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.64, a P/E/G ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

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 for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.51 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.38 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The firm 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 represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.87%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 12th. This is a boost from Paychex's previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Paychex's payout ratio is 90.00%.

Insider Activity at Paychex

In other Paychex news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 78,455 shares in the company, valued at $11,709,408.75. This represents a 4.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 11.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on PAYX shares. Citigroup increased their target price on Paychex from $145.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Cfra Research raised shares of Paychex to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Paychex has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $141.00.

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.