Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. Has $5 Million Stock Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. lifted its position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 20.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 32,401 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 5,556 shares during the period. Paychex comprises approximately 0.8% of Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc.'s holdings in Paychex were worth $4,999,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in 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 purchasing an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new position in Paychex in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Paychex during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Avion Wealth grew its holdings in Paychex by 469.8% in the 4th quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 245 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.25, for a total transaction of $544,762.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 78,455 shares in the company, valued at $11,709,408.75. The trade was a 4.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 11.40% of the company's stock.

Paychex Price Performance

Paychex stock traded up $0.47 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $159.78. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,005,807 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,906,471. The stock has a market capitalization of $57.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.64, a P/E/G ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.92. Paychex, Inc. has a twelve month low of $115.40 and a twelve month high of $161.24. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $150.16 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $146.99. 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 (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last issued its 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. The business had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.51 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.28% and a net margin of 32.02%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.38 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a $1.08 dividend. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.70%. This is a boost from Paychex's previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. Paychex's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 90.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Citigroup boosted their price target 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. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Paychex from $148.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Paychex from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Two equities research 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.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus 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.