Cary Street Partners Financial LLC Invests $1.01 Million in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Cary Street Partners Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 7,179 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,007,000.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 91.1% in the 4th 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 last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its holdings in Paychex by 120.0% during the fourth 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 fourth quarter worth about $2,405,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Paychex by 3.3% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 424,160 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $56,918,000 after purchasing an additional 13,702 shares during the period. Finally, Red Door Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Paychex during the fourth quarter worth about $314,000. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Paychex news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.25, for a total transaction of $544,762.50. Following the completion of 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 11.40% of the company's stock.

Paychex Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ PAYX traded down $0.22 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $151.47. The stock had a trading volume of 332,713 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,926,695. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The firm has a market cap of $54.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.89, a P/E/G ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.91. The business's fifty day moving average price is $147.07 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $145.40. 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 quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.51 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.28% and a net margin of 32.02%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.38 EPS. Analysts expect 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 given a $1.08 dividend. This is a positive change 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 payout ratio is presently 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.