Smith Group Asset Management LLC Buys New Stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Smith Group Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 3,566 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $550,000.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 220.7% in the 4th quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 186 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Paychex during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Paychex during the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Alpine Bank Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Paychex in the first quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Paychex in the 1st quarter valued at about $34,000. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on PAYX shares. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Paychex from $150.00 to $148.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Paychex from $140.00 to $148.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $165.00 price objective on Paychex and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Barclays set a $155.00 target price on shares of Paychex and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Paychex from $156.00 to $152.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have issued a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Paychex has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $149.11.

Paychex Price Performance

Paychex stock traded up $1.96 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $147.42. The stock had a trading volume of 3,666,878 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,947,952. Paychex, Inc. has a one year low of $115.40 and a one year high of $161.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.92. The firm's 50 day moving average is $151.83 and its 200 day moving average is $147.89.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 25th. The business services provider reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.19. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.01% and a net margin of 29.75%. The company had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.38 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.12 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast 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 was paid on Thursday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a $1.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.93%. This is an increase from Paychex's previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Paychex's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 90.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Paychex news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of the firm's 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 directly owned 78,455 shares in the company, valued at $11,709,408.75. This trade represents a 4.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 11.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.