Texas Bank & Trust Co Makes New Investment in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Texas Bank & Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 2,595 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $364,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. TrinityPoint Wealth LLC raised its position in Paychex by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. TrinityPoint Wealth LLC now owns 4,832 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $678,000 after buying an additional 293 shares during the last quarter. Tang Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Paychex during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $978,000. Toronto Dominion Bank increased its holdings in shares of Paychex by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 118,140 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $16,565,000 after purchasing an additional 1,945 shares in the last quarter. Studio Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Paychex by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Studio Investment Management LLC now owns 9,355 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,312,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Select Equity Group L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Paychex by 8.0% during the 4th quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 1,755,940 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $246,218,000 after purchasing an additional 130,349 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Paychex news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction on 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 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 11.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Paychex Price Performance

Paychex stock opened at $155.98 on Monday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $147.26 and its 200 day moving average price is $145.76. Paychex, Inc. has a 1 year low of $115.40 and a 1 year high of $159.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $56.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.84, a P/E/G 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.

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, 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 firm had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.51 billion. During the same quarter 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. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The firm 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.77%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 12th. This is a boost from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Paychex’s payout ratio is 90.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Paychex from $145.00 to $158.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Barclays lifted 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. Stifel Nicolaus lifted 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. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Paychex presently has a consensus 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.