Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC Takes Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 2,619 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $367,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in PAYX. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,303 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $603,000 after buying an additional 344 shares during the period. GHE LLC boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. GHE LLC now owns 21,365 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $2,996,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the period. Menard Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Paychex in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $120,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new stake in shares of Paychex in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,346,000. Finally, Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC bought a new stake in shares of Paychex in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $524,000. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PAYX has been the subject of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Paychex in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Paychex from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Barclays boosted their price target on Paychex from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, March 31st. 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. Finally, Cfra Research upgraded Paychex to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $141.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of the 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 $11,709,408.75. This represents a 4.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 11.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Paychex Price Performance

NASDAQ PAYX traded up $0.43 on Thursday, hitting $157.42. 1,402,412 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,921,742. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $149.09 and a 200-day moving average of $146.46. The stock has a market cap of $56.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.14, a P/E/G ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.91. Paychex, Inc. has a 52 week low of $115.40 and a 52 week high of $159.75. 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 quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.01. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.28% and a net margin of 32.02%. The company had revenue of $1.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.51 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.38 EPS. Paychex's revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 2.74%. This is a boost from Paychex's previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 12th. Paychex's dividend 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.