2,619 Shares in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Bought by Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC

Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 2,619 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $367,000.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PAYX. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Paychex in the 4th quarter worth about $184,216,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Paychex by 16.9% during the 4th 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. Amundi raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 77.9% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,534,145 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $215,164,000 after buying an additional 672,010 shares in the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 86.5% during the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 1,355,713 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $189,746,000 after buying an additional 628,912 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 30,382.8% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 568,809 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $79,758,000 after buying an additional 566,943 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 78,455 shares in the company, valued at $11,709,408.75. The trade was a 4.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 11.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of Paychex stock opened at $156.09 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $148.54 and a 200 day moving average of $146.30. Paychex, Inc. has a 12 month low of $115.40 and a 12 month high of $158.37. The firm has a market cap of $56.22 billion, a PE ratio of 32.86, 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) last posted 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 business had revenue of $1.51 billion during 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%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.38 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be paid a $1.08 dividend. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.77%. This is a positive change from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 12th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 90.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on PAYX shares. UBS Group lifted their price target on Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Barclays lifted their price target on Paychex from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Cfra Research upgraded Paychex to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on Paychex from $145.00 to $158.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Two investment 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.com, Paychex has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.