Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Shares Acquired by Crestline Management LP

Crestline Management LP raised its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 99.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,241 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 5,596 shares during the period. Crestline Management LP's holdings in Paychex were worth $1,576,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Paychex by 220.7% during the fourth quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 186 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Paychex in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new position in Paychex in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Avion Wealth lifted its position in Paychex by 469.8% during the fourth 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. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $11,709,408.75. This trade represents a 4.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 11.40% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on PAYX. UBS Group upped their price target 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 upped their price objective on Paychex from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Cfra Research upgraded Paychex to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Paychex from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $141.00.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PAYX traded up $0.04 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $151.69. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,435,053 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,932,997. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.39. Paychex, Inc. has a 1-year low of $115.40 and a 1-year high of $158.37. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $147.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $145.32. The firm has a market cap of $54.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.93, a P/E/G ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.91.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.51 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.28% and a net margin of 32.02%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.38 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The business 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 $1.08 dividend. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.85%. This is a boost from Paychex's previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 12th. Paychex's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 90.00%.

About Paychex

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.