Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC Purchases 7,294 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 10.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 76,876 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 7,294 shares during the period. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC's holdings in Paychex were worth $10,780,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of PAYX. Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in 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 buying an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new stake in Paychex in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Paychex in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Paychex during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Avion Wealth boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 469.8% during the 4th quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 245 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of the business's 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. The trade was a 4.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 11.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Paychex Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PAYX traded down $1.00 during trading on Friday, reaching $143.21. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,394,929 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,917,496. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. Paychex, Inc. has a 12 month low of $115.40 and a 12 month high of $158.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.58 billion, a PE ratio of 30.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.88. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $147.46 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $144.83.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.01. Paychex had a net margin of 32.02% and a return on equity of 45.28%. The company had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.51 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.38 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Paychex Company 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.