1,565 Shares in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Acquired by Foster Group Inc.

Foster Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 1,565 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $241,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Paychex by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,521,025 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $4,419,878,000 after acquiring an additional 174,817 shares during the period. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in Paychex by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 26,905,031 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $3,772,544,000 after acquiring an additional 166,155 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Paychex by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,044,631 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,408,458,000 after acquiring an additional 519,761 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Paychex by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,541,034 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,339,463,000 after acquiring an additional 126,962 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Paychex by 16.9% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,807,554 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $674,115,000 after acquiring an additional 694,651 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on PAYX. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Paychex from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Citigroup raised their price target on Paychex from $145.00 to $158.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Barclays lifted 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. UBS Group lifted their target price on Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Cfra Research raised Paychex to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $142.55.

Paychex Trading Up 0.3%

NASDAQ:PAYX traded up $0.47 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $159.78. 1,005,807 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,909,122. The firm has a market capitalization of $57.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.64, a P/E/G ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.92. The firm's fifty day moving average is $150.26 and its 200-day moving average is $147.16. Paychex, Inc. has a 12-month low of $115.40 and a 12-month high of $161.24. 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 announced 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. Paychex had a net margin of 32.02% and a return on equity of 45.28%. The business had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.51 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.38 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a $1.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.70%. This is an increase from Paychex's previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Paychex's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 90.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paychex

In other news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at approximately $11,709,408.75. This trade represents a 4.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 11.40% of the company's stock.

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.