GAMMA Investing LLC Has $1.15 Million Stock Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 31.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,474 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 1,804 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC's holdings in Paychex were worth $1,153,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PAYX. Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Paychex by 220.7% in the fourth quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 186 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Paychex during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new stake in Paychex in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Paychex in the fourth quarter valued at $41,000. Finally, Campbell Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Paychex during the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Paychex from $155.00 to $145.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Citigroup set a $158.00 target price on Paychex and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Paychex from $150.00 to $148.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Paychex from $156.00 to $152.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $140.00 price target on Paychex and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have issued a hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $149.11.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paychex

In other Paychex news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 78,455 shares in the company, valued at $11,709,408.75. This trade represents a 4.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 11.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Paychex Stock Performance

PAYX stock traded up $1.96 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $147.42. 3,666,878 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,948,833. The company's fifty day moving average price is $151.83 and its 200-day moving average price is $147.89. The firm has a market cap of $53.10 billion, a PE ratio of 29.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.88. Paychex, Inc. has a 1-year low of $115.40 and a 1-year high of $161.24. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 25th. The business services provider reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.19. Paychex had a net margin of 29.75% and a return on equity of 45.01%. The firm had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.38 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.12 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were given a dividend of $1.08 per share. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.93%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This is an increase from Paychex's previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Paychex's dividend payout ratio is 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.