Aptus Capital Advisors LLC Has $1.62 Million Stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Aptus Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 54.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 11,516 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 4,076 shares during the quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in Paychex were worth $1,615,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Barclays PLC boosted its position in shares of Paychex by 46.2% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,748,485 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $234,627,000 after purchasing an additional 552,540 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Paychex in the 3rd quarter valued at about $593,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of Paychex by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 997,930 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $142,055,000 after acquiring an additional 27,296 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Paychex by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 424,160 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $56,918,000 after acquiring an additional 13,702 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pensionfund Sabic grew its holdings in Paychex by 23.6% during the fourth quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 12,050 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,690,000 after purchasing an additional 2,300 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Paychex from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, March 31st. UBS Group boosted their target price on Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Paychex from $145.00 to $158.00 and gave the company a "neutral" 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 stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Cfra Research raised shares of Paychex to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Two 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, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $141.00.

Paychex Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ PAYX traded up $0.32 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $151.65. The company had a trading volume of 1,120,253 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,930,983. Paychex, Inc. has a one year low of $115.40 and a one year high of $158.37. The company has a market capitalization of $54.62 billion, a PE ratio of 31.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $147.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $145.30.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 company 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 business's revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.38 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be given a dividend of $1.08 per share. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.85%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 12th. This is an increase from Paychex's previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Paychex's payout ratio is 90.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paychex

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

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.