South Plains Financial Inc. Buys Shares of 2,765 Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

South Plains Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 2,765 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $388,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of PAYX. Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Paychex by 220.7% during the fourth 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 period. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new stake in shares of Paychex during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Paychex during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new stake in Paychex during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Avion Wealth lifted its position in Paychex by 469.8% during the fourth quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 245 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company's stock.

Paychex Stock Up 2.2 %

PAYX stock traded up $3.20 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $149.81. 1,460,405 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,925,535. The company has a market capitalization of $53.96 billion, a PE ratio of 31.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.88. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $147.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $144.99. 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, 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 data on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.01. The firm 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%. Paychex's revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.38 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.88%. This is an increase from Paychex's previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Paychex's dividend payout ratio is currently 81.67%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PAYX has been the topic of a number of research reports. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Barclays upped their target price on 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 raised their target price on Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report 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 report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Cfra Research raised shares of Paychex to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Paychex currently 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 company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 78,455 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,709,408.75. This represents a 4.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 11.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.