NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC Purchases 2,119 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC lifted its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 1,086.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,314 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 2,119 shares during the period. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC's holdings in Paychex were worth $357,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of PAYX. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Paychex during the 4th quarter valued at $184,216,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 20,236.7% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,153,089 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $177,899,000 after acquiring an additional 1,147,419 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 16.9% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,807,554 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $674,115,000 after acquiring an additional 694,651 shares during the period. Amundi lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 77.9% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,534,145 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $215,164,000 after acquiring an additional 672,010 shares during the period. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group increased its stake in Paychex by 86.5% during the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 1,355,713 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $189,746,000 after purchasing an additional 628,912 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company's stock.

Paychex Price Performance

PAYX opened at $153.22 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $55.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.26, a PEG ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.92. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $151.13 and a 200 day moving average of $147.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.39. Paychex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $115.40 and a fifty-two week high of $161.24.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.51 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 32.02% and a return on equity of 45.28%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.38 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 29th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were given a dividend of $1.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.82%. This is a positive change from Paychex's previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Paychex's dividend payout ratio is presently 90.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on PAYX shares. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "hold" rating on shares of Paychex in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Cfra Research upgraded shares of Paychex to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Paychex from $148.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Paychex has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $142.55.

Insider Activity at Paychex

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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 78,455 shares in the company, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 11.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.