Griffith & Werner Inc. Makes New $456,000 Investment in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Griffith & Werner Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 3,252 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $456,000.

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

Insider Activity

In other Paychex news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.25, for a total transaction of $544,762.50. Following the transaction, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 11.40% of the company's stock.

Paychex Trading Up 1.8%

Shares of PAYX stock traded up $2.88 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $158.97. 1,759,781 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,925,448. The firm has a market capitalization of $57.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.91. Paychex, Inc. has a 12-month low of $115.40 and a 12-month high of $159.24. The company's 50-day moving average price is $148.54 and its 200-day moving average price is $146.30. 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 data on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.51 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.38 EPS. Paychex's quarterly revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be issued a dividend of $1.08 per share. This is an increase from Paychex's previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.72%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 12th. Paychex's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 90.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on PAYX shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price 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. 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 research note on Thursday, March 27th. Barclays upped 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. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Paychex in a report on Friday. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target 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.