Good Steward Wealth Advisors LLC Buys New Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Good Steward Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 2,302 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $355,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of PAYX. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Paychex by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,521,025 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $4,419,878,000 after acquiring an additional 174,817 shares during the period. Capital International Investors lifted its position 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 purchasing an additional 166,155 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Paychex by 5.5% in 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 purchasing an additional 519,761 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Paychex by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,541,034 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,339,463,000 after purchasing an additional 126,962 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Paychex by 16.9% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,807,554 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $674,115,000 after purchasing an additional 694,651 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Paychex news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of the business's 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 11.40% of the company's stock.

Paychex Price Performance

Paychex stock opened at $150.32 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $54.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.32, a P/E/G ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.92. The company's fifty day moving average price is $151.80 and its 200 day moving average price is $147.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.39. Paychex, Inc. has a 1 year low of $115.40 and a 1 year high of $161.24.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.01. Paychex had a net margin of 31.99% and a return on equity of 45.30%. The business had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.51 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.38 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a dividend of $1.08 per share. This is a boost from Paychex's previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.87%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. Paychex's payout ratio is currently 90.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on PAYX shares. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Paychex from $140.00 to $148.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Wednesday. UBS Group upped their price objective on Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Paychex from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Paychex in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Paychex presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $143.36.

About Paychex

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.

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