Hall Capital Management Co. Inc. Invests $1.81 Million in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Hall Capital Management Co. Inc. purchased a new position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 12,900 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,809,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its holdings in Paychex by 120.0% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 6,936 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $973,000 after buying an additional 3,783 shares in the last quarter. Red Door Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Paychex during the 4th quarter valued at about $314,000. DAVENPORT & Co LLC grew its position in shares of Paychex by 54.6% during the fourth quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 36,057 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $5,056,000 after purchasing an additional 12,732 shares in the last quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Paychex by 1,089.0% in the fourth quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 95,057 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $13,329,000 after purchasing an additional 87,062 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 46.2% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,748,485 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $234,627,000 after buying an additional 552,540 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company's stock.

Paychex Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of PAYX traded up $0.30 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $157.72. 437,814 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,915,952. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.39. The stock's 50-day moving average is $149.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $146.52. Paychex, Inc. has a 12 month low of $115.40 and a 12 month high of $159.75. The stock has a market cap of $56.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.22, a P/E/G ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.91.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.51 billion during 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%. Paychex's revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.38 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 29th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a dividend of $1.08 per share. This is a positive change from Paychex's previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.74%. Paychex's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 90.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on PAYX. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Paychex in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Cfra Research upgraded shares of Paychex to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Paychex from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, March 31st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Paychex has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $141.00.

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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 78,455 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,709,408.75. This represents a 4.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 11.40% of the stock is 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.