Rhumbline Advisers Grows Stock Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Rhumbline Advisers grew its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 11.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 717,783 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 72,906 shares during the quarter. Rhumbline Advisers owned approximately 0.20% of Paychex worth $110,739,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PAYX. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Paychex during the 4th quarter worth $184,216,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in 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 worth $177,899,000 after purchasing an additional 1,147,419 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Paychex by 16.9% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,807,554 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $674,115,000 after purchasing an additional 694,651 shares during the last quarter. Amundi raised its holdings 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 worth $215,164,000 after acquiring an additional 672,010 shares during the period. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group raised its holdings in shares of 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 worth $189,746,000 after acquiring an additional 628,912 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company's stock.

Paychex Trading Down 0.0%

NASDAQ:PAYX traded down $0.02 on Thursday, reaching $159.31. 958,163 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,910,074. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $57.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.91. The business has a fifty day moving average of $150.16 and a 200-day moving average of $146.99. Paychex, Inc. has a 52-week low of $115.40 and a 52-week high of $159.93.

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

Paychex Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 29th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a $1.08 dividend. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.71%. This is an increase from Paychex's previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. Paychex's dividend payout ratio is 90.00%.

Insider Activity at Paychex

In other Paychex news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.25, for a total value of $544,762.50. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 11.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on PAYX. Barclays lifted their price target on Paychex from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, March 31st. Cfra Research upgraded Paychex to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Paychex from $148.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Paychex in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Paychex from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Paychex presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $142.55.

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.