Donaldson Capital Management LLC Has $66.01 Million Stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Donaldson Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 1.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 427,866 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 5,232 shares during the quarter. Paychex accounts for approximately 2.5% of Donaldson Capital Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Donaldson Capital Management LLC owned about 0.12% of Paychex worth $66,011,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of PAYX. Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Paychex by 220.7% during the 4th quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 186 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new position in Paychex in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Avion Wealth lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 469.8% in the 4th quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 245 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 202 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on PAYX shares. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Paychex in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Paychex from $148.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 3rd. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Paychex from $145.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Cfra Research raised shares of Paychex to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Paychex from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $142.55.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Paychex news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now owns 78,455 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,709,408.75. The trade was a 4.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 11.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of Paychex stock traded down $0.27 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $153.22. 2,525,398 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,904,733. The company has a market cap of $55.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $151.13 and a 200 day simple moving average of $147.48. Paychex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $115.40 and a fifty-two week high of $161.24.

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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.51 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 32.02% and a return on equity of 45.28%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.38 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 29th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were paid 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 was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.82%. Paychex's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.