Neo Ivy Capital Management Makes New $525,000 Investment in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Key Points

• Neo Ivy Capital Management has acquired a new stake in Paychex, Inc., purchasing 3,402 shares for approximately $525,000 during the first quarter.
• Paychex recently announced a quarterly dividend of $1.08 per share, with a total annualized dividend of $4.32 and a yield of 2.92%.
• Institutional investors now hold 83.47% of Paychex's stock, indicating significant institutional interest in the company.

Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 3,402 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $525,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its stake in Paychex by 2.4% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 144,156 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $22,240,000 after buying an additional 3,327 shares during the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 12.7% in the first quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 26,857 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $4,144,000 after acquiring an additional 3,037 shares during the period. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Paychex by 105.6% during the 1st quarter. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC now owns 11,119 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,715,000 after purchasing an additional 5,710 shares during the period. Summit Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Paychex by 2.4% during the first quarter. Summit Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,027 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $467,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Paychex by 2.6% during the first quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,051 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,242,000 after buying an additional 205 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PAYX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Paychex from $155.00 to $145.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Paychex from $156.00 to $152.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on Paychex in a report on Thursday, July 10th. They set a "market perform" rating and a $160.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $165.00 target price on shares of Paychex and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Paychex from $150.00 to $148.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $150.20.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,370 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.92, for a total value of $1,755,550.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 81,755 shares in the company, valued at $11,602,669.60. This trade represents a 13.14% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 97,526 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.17, for a total transaction of $14,157,849.42. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman directly owned 446,917 shares of the company's stock, valued at $64,878,940.89. The trade was a 17.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 11.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of PAYX traded down $0.41 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $146.88. 379,589 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,130,741. The company has a quick ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $149.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $148.61. Paychex, Inc. has a twelve month low of $122.07 and a twelve month high of $161.24. The company has a market cap of $52.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.16, a PEG ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.88.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, June 25th. The business services provider reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.19. Paychex had a net margin of 29.75% and a return on equity of 45.01%. The firm had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.38 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.12 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Monday, July 21st will be given a dividend of $1.08 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 21st. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.94%. Paychex's dividend payout ratio is presently 94.53%.

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.