Segment Wealth Management LLC Buys 2,167 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Segment Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 48.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,664 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 2,167 shares during the quarter. Segment Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Paychex were worth $1,028,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in PAYX. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its stake in Paychex by 120.0% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 6,936 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $973,000 after acquiring an additional 3,783 shares during the period. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Paychex by 15.1% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,419 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $990,000 after acquiring an additional 843 shares during the period. Tallon Kerry Patrick acquired a new position in Paychex in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,419,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Paychex by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 581,529 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $81,542,000 after acquiring an additional 23,359 shares during the period. Finally, Nicholson Wealth Management Group LLC grew its stake in Paychex by 64.2% in the fourth quarter. Nicholson Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 10,843 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,520,000 after acquiring an additional 4,239 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of the firm'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 directly owns 78,455 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,709,408.75. This trade represents a 4.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 11.40% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on PAYX. Cfra Research raised Paychex to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Paychex from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Barclays increased their price objective on Paychex from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, March 31st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Paychex in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Paychex presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $143.36.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PAYX opened at $149.12 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $151.84 and a 200 day moving average price of $147.67. Paychex, Inc. has a 52 week low of $115.40 and a 52 week high of $161.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $53.71 billion, a PE ratio of 31.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.92.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.01. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.30% and a net margin of 31.99%. The firm had revenue of $1.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.51 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.38 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were given a $1.08 dividend. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.90%. This is a boost from Paychex's previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. Paychex's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 90.00%.

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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