Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Shares Purchased by Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 2.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 735,928 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 14,931 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned approximately 0.20% of Paychex worth $103,192,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Dark Forest Capital Management LP increased its position in shares of Paychex by 22.2% during the fourth quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP now owns 5,000 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $701,000 after purchasing an additional 908 shares in the last quarter. Fayez Sarofim & Co increased its position in Paychex by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Fayez Sarofim & Co now owns 9,753 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,368,000 after buying an additional 366 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp increased its position in Paychex by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 821,299 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $115,168,000 after buying an additional 17,523 shares during the period. Optivise Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in Paychex by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Optivise Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,264 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $317,000 after buying an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of Tennessee Department of Treasury boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 67.3% in the fourth quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury now owns 70,100 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $9,829,000 after acquiring an additional 28,199 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on PAYX. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price 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. Barclays upped their target price 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. Citigroup raised their price target on Paychex from $145.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Cfra Research raised Paychex to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $141.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other 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 value of $544,762.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 78,455 shares in the company, valued at $11,709,408.75. This trade represents a 4.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 11.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Paychex Price Performance

PAYX stock traded up $3.20 on Friday, reaching $149.81. 1,460,405 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,923,995. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $147.15 and a 200-day moving average of $144.97. The firm has a market cap of $53.96 billion, a PE ratio of 31.54, a P/E/G ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.88. 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, Inc. has a twelve month low of $115.40 and a twelve month high of $158.37.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $1.51 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.51 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 32.02% and a return on equity of 45.28%. The business's revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.38 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th will be issued a $1.08 dividend. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.88%. This is a boost from Paychex's previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Paychex's dividend payout ratio is currently 81.67%.

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.