Raiffeisen Bank International AG Takes $1.26 Million Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Raiffeisen Bank International AG bought a new position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 9,011 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,261,000.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Prana Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Paychex in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,290,000. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 20.1% during the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 456,851 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $64,060,000 after purchasing an additional 76,410 shares in the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 44.2% in the fourth quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 53,459 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $7,496,000 after purchasing an additional 16,385 shares during the period. Pathstone Holdings LLC boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 54,172 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $7,604,000 after purchasing an additional 2,033 shares during the period. Finally, Mufg Securities Americas Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Paychex in the fourth quarter valued at $663,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. UBS Group increased 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. 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 research note on Thursday, March 27th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Paychex from $145.00 to $158.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Cfra Research upgraded Paychex to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $141.00.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PAYX traded down $0.52 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $157.67. 1,466,973 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,929,683. The stock has a market capitalization of $56.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.91. Paychex, Inc. has a 12 month low of $115.40 and a 12 month high of $158.40. The company has a 50 day moving average of $147.52 and a 200-day moving average of $145.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.39.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last 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 company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be paid a dividend of $1.08 per share. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.74%. This is a positive change from Paychex's previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 12th. Paychex's payout ratio is presently 90.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paychex

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

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.