Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Shares Bought by Quantinno Capital Management LP

Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 44.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 53,459 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 16,385 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP’s holdings in Paychex were worth $7,496,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its holdings in shares of Paychex by 120.0% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 6,936 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $973,000 after purchasing an additional 3,783 shares in the last quarter. Red Door Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at about $314,000. Brookstone Capital Management increased its holdings in shares of Paychex by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 3,027 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $424,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC increased its holdings in shares of Paychex by 54.6% in the 4th quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 36,057 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,056,000 after purchasing an additional 12,732 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Paychex by 70.8% in the 4th quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 16,726 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,345,000 after purchasing an additional 6,932 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Price Performance

Paychex stock opened at $154.43 on Friday. Paychex, Inc. has a 12-month low of $115.40 and a 12-month high of $158.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $55.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.51, a P/E/G ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.91. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $147.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $145.59. 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) last released 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. Paychex had a net margin of 32.02% and a return on equity of 45.28%. The company had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.51 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.38 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 is a boost from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 12th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 90.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.25, for a total value of $544,762.50. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 78,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,709,408.75. This trade represents a 4.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 11.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of 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 target 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. Cfra Research upgraded shares of Paychex to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Barclays raised 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. Finally, 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 report on Thursday, March 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $141.00.

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.