Challenger Wealth Management Makes New Investment in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Challenger Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 3,115 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $437,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of PAYX. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its stake in Paychex by 120.0% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 6,936 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $973,000 after buying an additional 3,783 shares in the last quarter. Red Door Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Paychex in the 4th quarter worth approximately $314,000. DAVENPORT & Co LLC grew its stake in Paychex by 54.6% in the 4th quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 36,057 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $5,056,000 after buying an additional 12,732 shares in the last quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Paychex by 1,089.0% in the 4th quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 95,057 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $13,329,000 after buying an additional 87,062 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its stake in Paychex by 46.2% in the 3rd 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 Down 1.2%

NASDAQ:PAYX traded down $1.98 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $156.99. 1,483,123 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,921,445. The company has a fifty day moving average of $148.81 and a 200 day moving average of $146.39. Paychex, Inc. has a 12 month low of $115.40 and a 12 month high of $161.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $56.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.05, a PEG ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.91.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last posted 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 net margin of 32.02% and a return on equity of 45.28%. The company had revenue of $1.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.51 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.38 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th will be issued a dividend of $1.08 per share. This is a positive change from Paychex's previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 12th. Paychex's dividend payout ratio is currently 90.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 shares were sold at an average price of $149.25, for a total value of $544,762.50. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 11.40% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Cfra Research raised shares of Paychex to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Barclays boosted their price objective 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. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a "hold" rating on shares of Paychex in a report on Friday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Paychex has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $141.00.

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.