BLI Banque de Luxembourg Investments Takes Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

BLI Banque de Luxembourg Investments acquired a new position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 182,900 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $25,602,000. BLI Banque de Luxembourg Investments owned about 0.05% of Paychex as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Paychex by 220.7% during the 4th quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 186 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the period. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new stake in Paychex in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Paychex in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Paychex during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Avion Wealth grew its position in shares of Paychex by 469.8% during the 4th quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 245 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 202 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on PAYX. Cfra Research raised shares of Paychex to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Paychex from $145.00 to $158.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Barclays increased their target price on Paychex from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, March 31st. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, UBS Group boosted 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Paychex has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $141.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paychex

In other 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 owns 78,455 shares in the company, valued at $11,709,408.75. This represents a 4.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 11.40% of the company's stock.

Paychex Stock Performance

Paychex stock traded up $0.39 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $151.72. 453,505 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,923,175. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.65 billion, a PE ratio of 31.94, 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. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $147.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $145.20. Paychex, Inc. has a one year low of $115.40 and a one year high of $158.37.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.38 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be issued a $1.08 dividend. This is an increase from Paychex's previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 12th. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.85%. Paychex's dividend payout ratio is 90.00%.

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.