Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC Makes New Investment in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC acquired a new stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 3,739 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $524,000.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Monument Capital Management increased its position in Paychex by 4.4% during 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 during the period. Mutual Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Paychex by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 2,881 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $423,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the period. Emerald Advisors LLC raised its stake in Paychex by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Emerald Advisors LLC now owns 3,017 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $423,000 after buying an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Weaver Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Paychex by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Weaver Capital Management LLC now owns 2,121 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $297,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. Finally, Adero Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Paychex by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Adero Partners LLC now owns 2,391 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $335,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.25, for a total transaction of $544,762.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 78,455 shares of the company's stock, 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 11.40% of the company's stock.

Paychex Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PAYX traded down $1.98 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $156.99. 1,483,123 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,921,445. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.39. Paychex, Inc. has a 52-week low of $115.40 and a 52-week high of $161.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $56.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.05, a PEG ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.91. The company's 50 day moving average price is $148.81 and its 200-day moving average price is $146.39.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last released 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. The firm had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.51 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.28% and a net margin of 32.02%. The firm's revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.38 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be paid a $1.08 dividend. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.75%. This is a boost from Paychex's previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 12th. Paychex's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 90.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on PAYX shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Paychex from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Paychex from $145.00 to $158.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Barclays boosted their target price 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. Cfra Research upgraded shares of Paychex to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $141.00.

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.