Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC Acquires Shares of 6,923 Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 6,923 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $971,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Paychex by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 243,574 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $34,154,000 after purchasing an additional 15,221 shares during the last quarter. Candlestick Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Paychex in the fourth quarter worth $13,505,000. Lido Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 7,188 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,008,000 after acquiring an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 16.9% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,807,554 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $674,115,000 after acquiring an additional 694,651 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC acquired a new position in Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at about $4,458,000. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Paychex

In other news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of Paychex 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 sale, the director now directly owns 78,455 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,709,408.75. The trade was a 4.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 11.40% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on PAYX shares. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Paychex from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. UBS Group upped 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 upped their price objective 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. Cfra Research raised shares of Paychex to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $141.00.

Paychex Price Performance

NASDAQ:PAYX traded down $0.94 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $150.32. 397,284 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,084,269. Paychex, Inc. has a 1-year low of $115.40 and a 1-year high of $158.37. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $147.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $145.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.14 billion, a PE ratio of 31.65, a PEG 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.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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 analyst estimates of $1.51 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.28% and a net margin of 32.02%. Paychex's revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.38 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th will be given a dividend of $1.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 12th. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.87%. This is a positive change from Paychex's previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Paychex's payout ratio is 90.00%.

About Paychex

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.