Measured Risk Portfolios Inc. Buys Shares of 1,745 Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Measured Risk Portfolios Inc. bought a new stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm bought 1,745 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $245,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of PAYX. Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Paychex by 220.7% during 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. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new position in shares of Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new stake in Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Avion Wealth increased its position in Paychex by 469.8% in the 4th quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 245 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Paychex

In other Paychex news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of the 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. This trade represents a 4.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 11.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on PAYX. Stifel Nicolaus boosted 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. Barclays boosted 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. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Citigroup upped 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. Finally, Cfra Research upgraded Paychex to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $141.00.

Paychex Trading Up 0.0%

Paychex stock opened at $151.69 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.39. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $147.07 and its 200-day moving average price is $145.40. Paychex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $115.40 and a fifty-two week high of $158.37. The stock has a market cap of $54.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.93, a PEG ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.91.

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

Paychex Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th will be paid a $1.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 12th. This is a boost from Paychex's previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.85%. 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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