3,930 Shares in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Bought by Novem Group

Novem Group acquired a new position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 3,930 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $551,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 46.2% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,748,485 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $234,627,000 after acquiring an additional 552,540 shares in the last quarter. Tallon Kerry Patrick acquired a new stake in Paychex during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,419,000. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in Paychex by 11.1% during the fourth quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,709 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $240,000 after buying an additional 171 shares in the last quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Paychex by 135.5% in the 4th quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,832 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $537,000 after acquiring an additional 2,205 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Simon Quick Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Paychex by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 5,543 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $777,000 after acquiring an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company's stock.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PAYX traded down $0.56 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $158.42. 350,520 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,919,296. The company has a market cap of $57.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.31, a PEG ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.91. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $148.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $146.39. Paychex, Inc. has a 52 week low of $115.40 and a 52 week high of $160.01. 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 (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.51 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 32.02% and a return on equity of 45.28%. Paychex's revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.38 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 issued a $1.08 dividend. This is a positive change from Paychex's previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 12th. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.73%. Paychex's dividend payout ratio is 90.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on PAYX shares. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Paychex from $145.00 to $158.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "hold" rating on shares of Paychex in a research note on Friday. Cfra Research upgraded Paychex to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Paychex from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Two research 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 company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $141.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paychex

In other news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 78,455 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,709,408.75. The trade was a 4.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 11.40% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.