Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC Invests $971,000 in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 6,923 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $971,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Paychex by 220.7% during the 4th quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 186 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new position in Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex in the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Avion Wealth increased its stake in shares of Paychex by 469.8% during the fourth quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 245 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 202 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company's stock.

Paychex Price Performance

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

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, beating 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 business had revenue of $1.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.51 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.38 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The firm 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 is Monday, May 12th. This is an increase from Paychex's previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.85%. Paychex's dividend payout ratio is 90.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Paychex from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Paychex from $145.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Barclays upped their target price 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. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $141.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of the 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 78,455 shares in the company, valued at $11,709,408.75. This represents a 4.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 11.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.