Novem Group Acquires Shares of 3,930 Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Novem Group acquired a new position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 3,930 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $551,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Paychex by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,521,025 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $4,419,878,000 after acquiring an additional 174,817 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in Paychex by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 26,905,031 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $3,772,544,000 after buying an additional 166,155 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Paychex by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,044,631 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,408,458,000 after buying an additional 519,761 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Paychex by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,541,034 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,339,463,000 after buying an additional 126,962 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Paychex by 16.9% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,807,554 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $674,115,000 after buying an additional 694,651 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company's stock.

Paychex Stock Down 0.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $156.18 on Friday. 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, Inc. has a 52-week low of $115.40 and a 52-week high of $158.37. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $148.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $146.16. The company has a market capitalization of $56.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.88, a P/E/G ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.91.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 business 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 business's revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.38 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be paid a dividend of $1.08 per share. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.77%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 12th. This is a positive change from Paychex's previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Paychex's dividend payout ratio is currently 90.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on PAYX shares. Citigroup raised their price objective on Paychex from $145.00 to $158.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Paychex from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $141.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Paychex news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 owns 78,455 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,709,408.75. This represents a 4.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 11.40% of the company's stock.

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.

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