Kelly Financial Services LLC Takes Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Kelly Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 1,661 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $256,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of PAYX. Monument Capital Management raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Monument Capital Management now owns 1,714 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $240,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Emerald Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Emerald Advisors LLC now owns 3,017 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $423,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC now owns 3,179 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $446,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 4,120 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $578,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Optivise Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Optivise Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,264 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $317,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Paychex Stock Down 0.2%

NASDAQ:PAYX traded down $0.27 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $153.22. 2,525,398 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,901,693. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $151.13 and a 200 day simple moving average of $147.47. Paychex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $115.40 and a fifty-two week high of $161.24. 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 company has a market capitalization of $55.19 billion, a PE ratio of 32.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.92.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.01. Paychex had a net margin of 32.02% and a return on equity of 45.28%. The firm had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.51 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.38 EPS. Paychex's revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a $1.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. 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 2.82%. Paychex's payout ratio is currently 90.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Cfra Research upgraded shares of Paychex to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "hold" rating on shares of Paychex in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Paychex from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, March 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $142.55.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paychex

In other Paychex news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of Paychex 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 78,455 shares in the company, 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 document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 11.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Paychex Company 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.