Captrust Financial Advisors Increases Stock Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Captrust Financial Advisors raised its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 18.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 68,191 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 10,618 shares during the quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors' holdings in Paychex were worth $9,562,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Paychex during the 4th quarter worth approximately $184,216,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 16.9% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,807,554 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $674,115,000 after buying an additional 694,651 shares during the last quarter. Amundi lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 77.9% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,534,145 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $215,164,000 after buying an additional 672,010 shares during the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its holdings in Paychex by 86.5% during the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 1,355,713 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $189,746,000 after purchasing an additional 628,912 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Paychex by 30,382.8% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 568,809 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $79,758,000 after purchasing an additional 566,943 shares during the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PAYX has been the subject of a number of research reports. Citigroup lifted their target price on Paychex from $145.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Cfra Research upgraded Paychex to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. UBS Group increased their price target on Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Paychex from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, March 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $141.00.

Insider Transactions at Paychex

In related news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.25, for a total value of $544,762.50. Following the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 11.40% of the company's stock.

Paychex Stock Performance

Paychex stock traded down $0.32 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $151.37. The stock had a trading volume of 366,906 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,926,849. Paychex, Inc. has a 12 month low of $115.40 and a 12 month high of $158.37. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $147.07 and its 200 day moving average price is $145.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.52 billion, a PE ratio of 31.87, a P/E/G ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.91. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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%. Paychex's revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.38 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

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