Vise Technologies Inc. Increases Stock Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Vise Technologies Inc. raised its position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 98.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,360 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 1,663 shares during the quarter. Vise Technologies Inc.'s holdings in Paychex were worth $471,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Paychex by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,521,025 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $4,419,878,000 after purchasing an additional 174,817 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 26,905,031 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $3,772,544,000 after acquiring an additional 166,155 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,044,631 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,408,458,000 after acquiring an additional 519,761 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,541,034 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,339,463,000 after acquiring an additional 126,962 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 16.9% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,807,554 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $674,115,000 after acquiring an additional 694,651 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PAYX has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Cfra Research raised Paychex to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Paychex from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Barclays increased their target price on Paychex from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, March 31st. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on Paychex from $145.00 to $158.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $141.00.

Insider Activity at Paychex

In related news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of the business'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 transaction, the director now owns 78,455 shares in the company, valued at $11,709,408.75. The trade was a 4.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 11.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Paychex Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of PAYX traded up $0.43 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $157.42. 1,402,412 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,919,376. Paychex, Inc. has a 52-week low of $115.40 and a 52-week high of $159.75. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $149.09 and a 200 day simple moving average of $146.46. The firm has a market cap of $56.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.14, a P/E/G ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.39.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.51 billion during 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 business's revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.38 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th will be given a $1.08 dividend. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 12th. This is a boost from Paychex's previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Paychex's payout ratio 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.