Cetera Investment Advisers Raises Stock Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Cetera Investment Advisers grew its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 13.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 140,829 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 16,724 shares during the quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers' holdings in Paychex were worth $19,747,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Paychex from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. UBS Group raised their target price on Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Barclays raised their target price on Paychex from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Citigroup raised 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. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $141.00.

Paychex Price Performance

PAYX traded down $0.06 on Wednesday, hitting $151.20. 485,255 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,085,335. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $147.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $145.44. The firm has a market cap of $54.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.83, a P/E/G ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.91. Paychex, Inc. has a one year low of $115.40 and a one year high of $158.37. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.51 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.28% and a net margin of 32.02%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.38 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 12th. This is an increase from Paychex's previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Paychex's dividend payout ratio is 90.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paychex

In other Paychex 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 transaction, the director now 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 11.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.