Parr Mcknight Wealth Management Group LLC Buys New Shares in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Parr Mcknight Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 29,857 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $4,187,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Paychex by 220.7% in the fourth quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 186 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the period. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new stake in shares of Paychex during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Paychex in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Paychex in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Avion Wealth increased its stake in shares of Paychex by 469.8% during the fourth quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 245 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Paychex

In other Paychex news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.25, for a total value of $544,762.50. Following the sale, the director now owns 78,455 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,709,408.75. The trade was a 4.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 11.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on PAYX shares. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Paychex from $145.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Paychex from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Cfra Research raised Paychex to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $141.00.

Paychex Price Performance

NASDAQ:PAYX traded down $0.71 on Wednesday, hitting $158.26. The company had a trading volume of 424,947 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,026,865. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $148.81 and a two-hundred day moving average of $146.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $57.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.31, a PEG ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.91. Paychex, Inc. has a 52 week low of $115.40 and a 52 week high of $159.75. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.28% and a net margin of 32.02%. The company had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.51 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.38 EPS. Paychex's revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th will be issued a $1.08 dividend. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 12th. This is a positive change from Paychex's previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Paychex's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 90.00%.

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.