NBC Securities Inc. Raises Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

NBC Securities Inc. grew its holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 87,600.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 23,679 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 23,652 shares during the quarter. NBC Securities Inc.'s holdings in Paychex were worth $3,653,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Czech National Bank boosted its position in Paychex by 6.0% during the first quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 73,603 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $11,355,000 after purchasing an additional 4,153 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers increased its stake in Paychex by 11.3% during the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 717,783 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $110,739,000 after acquiring an additional 72,906 shares during the period. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Paychex by 15.1% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,419 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $990,000 after acquiring an additional 843 shares during the period. Investors Research Corp increased its stake in shares of Paychex by 59.4% in the 1st quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 400 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Somerset Trust Co increased its stake in shares of Paychex by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Somerset Trust Co now owns 33,247 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $5,129,000 after purchasing an additional 774 shares during the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Paychex Stock Performance

Paychex stock traded up $0.21 during trading on Thursday, hitting $159.54. The stock had a trading volume of 224,291 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,904,272. The stock has a market cap of $57.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.91. The stock's 50 day moving average is $150.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $146.87. Paychex, Inc. has a 1 year low of $115.40 and a 1 year high of $159.91. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 firm 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 business posted $1.38 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 positive change from Paychex's previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.71%. Paychex's payout ratio is presently 90.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on PAYX. UBS Group lifted their price target on Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Cfra Research raised Paychex to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Paychex from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Paychex from $148.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Paychex in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $142.55.

Insider Activity at Paychex

In other news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 78,455 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 11.40% of the stock is owned by 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.